Not So Arrogant
by orsinoslady
Summary: Modern P&P. What if Darcy hadn't made his comment? Would anything be different? Please R&R.
1. Meeting the Players

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the rights to Jane Austen's works. I just wish I did.

**A/N:** Okay, so this is my first Austen fic, so I'm going to ask that you please be nice and really tell me what I could improve upon. And, I haven't seen a story like this up here, so I'm hoping this is somewhat original. I hope you enjoy it. And, this is kind of told from a third person, omnipotent (think a camera that knows everything) pov.

"Lizzie, you need to get ready for the party," Jane told Elizabeth, her sister.

"Jane, please," Lizzie said to Jane. "We both know that no matter what I do Mother is going to drool over you and Lydia and then proceed to criticize the fact that I can't possibly do anything right in her eyes because I'm too plain and I don't comply with what she says is best."

Jane just sent Lizzie a look because she had heard this argument before. But, Jane knew why Lizzie said what she did. She said it because it was mostly true. Lizzie and their mother had never really gotten along well because, just like Lizzie said, she didn't comply with what she said they should do.

But, even though it may be true, Jane still took it upon herself to help Lizzie at least escape most of their mothers scathing remarks about her shortcomings.

"Lizzie, I really need you to cooperate with me because if we are late to this welcoming party our mother will kill us," Jane said, finally getting a little exasperated with Lizzie.

It seemed that was what Lizzie needed to hear because she was ready to go five minutes later. As Jane and Lizzie drove to Longbourn for the party their family was throwing, Lizzie once again thanked the Powers That Be that she didn't live with her mother anymore. She had finally reached that age where she could live on her own, which she wanted to do, so she and Jane had decided to live together since they shared a room and bed for a good portion of their lives.

"So, Lizzie," Jane started awkwardly, "have you gotten any ideas for any new books?"

Jane was being careful because Lizzie was usually pretty touchy about her writing. Mainly because when their mother found out what Lizzie wanted to do with her life, she went ballistic and wouldn't talk to Lizzie unless it was to tell her that she would never make a living for herself and she would end up in the street.

But, fortunately, their mother was wrong. Lizzie actually had a successful line of children's books that had made her a lot of money and she was now working on a teen series that she hoped to have published in the next year.

"Not really," Lizzie said. "I'm just working on tweaking the ones I haven't sent in yet and revising the ones they've sent back."

Jane nodded and didn't say anything else. Suddenly Lizzie broke the silence by saying, "Mary told me that Mother invited some man that just moved into the neighborhood, a Charles Bingley or something like that. Apparently he's very rich and Mother has plans to push the two of you into each other."

Jane didn't really say anything. She was used to their mother, Mrs. Bennet, trying to push men on her because she was a reputed "beauty." Although, she personally couldn't see this. She thought she was very plain and that she didn't deserve any distinction above her sisters. But, most people thought she was very pretty and usually told her so.

She just shook her head and continued to drive. Thus, the drive was finished in silence.

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By the time they arrived at Longbourn, there were already a lot of people there, although Jane and Lizzie both knew that their mother had probably invited twice as many people. Jane and Lizzie slowly made their way to the backyard and were able to slip in without anyone noticing them. Since they were a little late, they didn't want their mother saying anything.

Lizzie raked her eyes over the room, taking in all the people that were there. She saw her friend Charlotte Lucas and rushed over to give her a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Charlotte exclaimed as she and Lizzie embraced.

"Why? I am that important to you?" Lizzie asked, feigning surprise. "I never knew I meant this much to you."

Charlotte laughed at Lizzie's joke and started to chatter about everything that had happened since she had been there. Apparently a few people had already had drinks thrown on them and Charlotte thought she saw one person throw up in the corner. Then, Charlotte directed Lizzie's attention to a small group of people standing off to the side.

"That," Charlotte said, discreetly pointing, "is Charles Bingley. The constipated looking girl is Caroline Bingley. The other woman is her sister Louisa Hurst and that's her husband looking like he could be sick any moment. And, the incredibly handsome man next to Bingley is his best friend, William Darcy. Although, I don't think you'll like him. He's a disagreeable sort of fellow."

Lizzie nodded and looked at each person in turn. She thought that Charles Bingley looked like a really nice guy and that he would make friends easily. Caroline really did look constipated. And, her sister didn't look much better. Although, it looked like she may have actually let the stick leave her ass, unlike Caroline, who looked like she had smelled something bad as well. And, Mr. Hurst didn't really require words because you could look at him and tell that he spent most of his time three sheets to the wind. Of course, with the way two of his relations looked, Lizzie thought she might want to be three sheets to the wind most of the time as well.

But, with William Darcy, she didn't really know what to think. From what Charlotte told her, she figured she wouldn't like him, but he mostly seemed to be uncomfortable. Not proud or arrogant as she had heard a lot of people say to describe him.

Lizzie was still contemplating him when she saw Jane wave her over to where she was standing with their mother. As soon as she got over there, she was dragged with the rest of the clan over to where Bingley and his group were standing.

"Mr. Bingley, it's so nice to see you again," Mrs. Bennet started. "Here are my other two daughters, Jane and Lizzie."

Mr. Bingley nodded to both of them and started a conversation by asking what they did.

"Well, I'm a school teacher at a local elementary school," Jane told him. When she noticed that Lizzie wasn't going to be forthcoming with her profession, Jane said, "And Lizzie is a writer. Perhaps you've heard of her books? It's the Audrey Rose series of children's books."

Bingley had a look of awe on his face. "You write those? At the hospital that I work at, I'm a doctor by the way, the children love your books. It always perks them up to know that Audrey will come out on top of whatever adventure and mishap she gets herself into."

Lizzie smiled and thanked him, but for the most part kept quiet. Lizzie heard Bingley ask Jane to dance and watched them go to the dance floor. She glanced around her and saw that she was standing beside Darcy. When he looked at her, she blushed and glanced at the ground.

"I like your books as well, Miss Bennet," he said, startling her.

"Um…please call me Lizzie. I feel like I'm my mother or something if someone calls me that. And, thanks," she said, a little unsure of herself. "What do you do?"

"I work at the hospital that Bingley works at," he said somewhat shortly.

Lizzie looked a little taken back by what he said, but didn't make any further comment. Since it seemed that he wasn't going to be particularly forthcoming with any other comments or beautiful insights into his person, she slowly walked away, trying to find Charlotte.

She found her quite easily and pulled her over to the tree where they had built their tree house when they were younger. They climbed up to escape the party and collect themselves.

Lizzie was in the middle of telling Charlotte what her and Darcy had briefly talked about when the object of their musings and Bingley came to a stop underneath their tree.

"Darcy, please. I must see you dance with a girl," Bingley started. Darcy just shot him a look. "Will you at least dance with another girl besides my sister? There are plenty of pretty ones here. You can have your pick!"

"Thank you for thinking of me Bingley, but I think I would prefer to stay over here. You know I have trouble when I am around people I don't know very well."

"Well, since you want to, I may not agree with it, but if you're happy with it, I can be. And, what do you think of Jane, if you don't mind me asking."

Lizzie had to stifle a giggle when she heard Bingley ask Darcy that question. But, apparently she didn't stifle it well enough because they both glanced around trying to find the source of the suppressed sound.

"She is very pretty. She seems to suit you," was Darcy's reply.

"And, what do you think of her sister, Lizzie? I think she is rather pretty as well," Bingley said, trying to prod Darcy. "I saw you talking to her."

"Yes, I was. I actually decided to make an effort that didn't end well. And, they never do. I thought she was pretty. Her eyes are very enchanting."

Lizzie and Charlotte exchanged a look. They hadn't expected to overhear something like this. They tuned back into the conversation in enough time to hear Darcy tell Bingley to go back to Jane and not waste anymore time with him in the shadows.

They watched Bingley walk away and then Darcy walk away before they said anything.

"Wow, Lizzie. It seems your mother will be very happy that you caught the fancy of someone so rich!" Charlotte said.

"Charlotte! Now, you know I could never do anything to make my mother happy! Besides, I wonder if he wasn't just saying it or something. I'm really not that great."

Charlotte scoffed at what Lizzie said, but she knew that she didn't need to push the matter. They sat up in the tree house for a little while longer before they decided to head back down to rejoin the party.

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**A/N:** Please review! I would really like to know whether this is a good idea or not. And, just so everyone knows, the occupations are as follows: the Bennet family is a middle class family. Money was tight when the five daughters were growing up, but once Jane and Lizzie moved out, it wasn't so bad because they then only had five people to support and not seven. Caroline doesn't do anything. She welches off Bingley. Mr. Hurst is a fairly successful lawyer and doesn't spend as much time with Bingley as he did in the book. Louisa doesn't do anything either. A professional wife is what I guess you would call her. And, I think that about covers everything. I hope you liked it!


	2. An Invitation

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights…although I wish I owned Darcy sometimes…

The rest of the night passed rather uneventfully and Lizzie was grateful when it was over. She was also glad that she had been able to avoid being around her mother most of the night, so she couldn't say anything to Elizabeth about her shortcomings.

The ride back to Jane and Elizabeth's apartment was spent with Jane gushing about how wonderful she thought Bingley was. She declared him to be one of the handsomest men she knew and that he was very nice and agreeable. Lizzie smiled as she listened. She thought the same thing and happened to think that Jane and Bingley would get along great together. But, she didn't want to say anything because she knew that her sister would say she didn't know what she was talking about and that they would be just friends.

Eventually Jane ran out of things to say and asked Lizzie what happened to her while she was at the party. Lizzie proceeded to tell Jane what she had overheard Bingley and Darcy saying. Jane looked very surprised.

"You mean, he paid you a compliment?" Jane asked, disbelieving.

"Yes, and close your mouth. He doesn't know I overheard him," Lizzie said, looking out the window.

"I'm glad that he said it, because it is true, but he didn't talk to anyone all night and really seemed to not enjoy himself."

"Well, I guess looks can be deceiving," Lizzie said with a wave of her hand.

Jane continued to try and pry something out of Lizzie, but Lizzie refused to say what her own thoughts of Darcy were. The main reason she didn't want to say anything was because she wasn't sure what they were herself. She thought him to be very handsome, but he seemed to so odd in a way because he didn't really talk with anyone at the party, but he had complimented her even though he didn't know anything about her. She was thoroughly confused as to what she should think. So, she didn't say anything.

Eventually, Jane gave up and they finished their ride home in silence. By the time they reached their apartment, which was in London, they were both thinking about the comfortable softness of their respective beds. They wished each other good night and proceeded to get ready for bed.

Jane delicately removed her dress from the night and hung it up and did her normal routine for preparing for bed while Lizzie fell in a heap onto her bed in the dress that she wore and promptly fell asleep. The one thing they did have in common was that when they fell asleep, they each had a particular person on their mind.

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Lizzie was awakened the next morning by the smell of coffee and even though she didn't drink it, she loved the smell of it. She slowly roused herself and changed out of the dress from the night before and into a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt. She walked out of her room and towards the kitchen since she knew that was where Jane would be.

She was almost there when she heard Jane murmur something and the sound of a masculine laugh come from the kitchen. She stopped right before entering, confused because she didn't know they were having someone come over. She shrugged her shoulders and figured it was someone from home and walked into the kitchen, not expecting to see Bingley and Darcy sitting at the counter drinking coffee.

"Lizzie! Good morning!" Bingley cried when he saw her. "Jane was just telling us about the time you and her had gone on a school trip and you got offered a condom by a boy from another school."

Lizzie blushed a very bright red and shot Jane a look. Jane was biting her lips to keep from laughing because she remembered this event vividly. They had been standing outside the inn they were staying in, her, Jane, and some other girls from school, discussing what they were going to do that night, since there were plenty of things close enough to them to do.

They were in the middle of their conversation when a guy from one of the other schools came up. They had all turned to look at him, waiting to see what he wanted. He glanced around making sure no one else was around and said, "If you ladies want to have some fun tonight, make sure you use protection."

As he said that, he held up a condom and tried to offer it to them. All the other girls knew what it was and shook their heads that they didn't need it, but Lizzie was a little out of it and didn't know what he was holding. She just looked at him with a confused look on her face, then she realized what he was holding (and he was standing right beside her) and got this look on her face that made her look like a deer in head lights. The boy eventually left them alone and Lizzie hadn't been able to live it down since.

All of this came rushing back to her and she couldn't believe that Jane had told them that story. She noticed Jane's face and said, "Jane! I thought we agreed to never talk about that!"

Jane couldn't hold her laughter in any longer and it bubbled out her. Lizzie then looked at Bingley and saw that he was trying to repress his laughter and had failed as well. The only person that wasn't laughing was Darcy, which puzzled Lizzie. He was just staring at her. So, she stared back.

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Jane and Bingley finally quieted down and Bingley said, "The reason I called you this morning was because I wanted to see if you and Lizzie wanted to accompany Darcy and I to Southampton for the weekend. We leave tomorrow morning and will be coming back Monday afternoon."

Jane looked at Lizzie and then told Charles, "We would love to. If you don't mind me asking, why are you going?"

"I don't mind at all. Someone I know from school said there's an estate there and he said I might like it. So, he invited me down for the weekend and said I could bring anyone I wanted and that we would have free reign over his house because he'll be stuck up at Cambridge. He knows the person that owns it and said he would be happy to show me around."

Jane nodded and murmured that it sounded lovely.

Bingley and Darcy stayed for a little while longer and then left because, according to Bingley, they had a lot to do before they left tomorrow. Jane saw them out and then turned to Lizzie.

"Are you okay with going?" Jane asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine. Even if I didn't want to go, I would still go because I can tell you like Bingley and I do not want you to be unescorted."

Jane laughed at her and shook her head. "You never cease to amaze me Lizzie. You sometimes seem to be very thoroughly entrenched in the Regency period that I wonder why you were ever born in this time. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to try and pack. I want to make sure I look my best while we're there."

Jane left the room and went into hers. Lizzie went back into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat. She had just sat down to eat the chocolate chip bagel with strawberry cream cheese when the phone rang. She answered it after the first ring and sat back down.

"Hello?" she asked around a mouthful of food.

"Lizzie? Is that you?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Charlotte? I thought you would still be in bed!" Lizzie said, somewhat surprised.

"Well, so did I. But, my mother roused me early this morning to help her with something. But, enough about me, how are you this morning?"

"I'm not too bad," Lizzie started and then proceeded to fill Charlotte in on all that had happened.

"I still remember when that happened!" Charlotte crowed over the phone.

"Charlotte! That's not the point!" Lizzie said, exasperated.

"I know. I just couldn't resist saying it. So, what are you going to do while you're there?"

"I don't really know. I guess I'll do whatever Bingley wants to do and I'll probably spend it trying to figure Darcy out."

"That sounds like fun. Well, I hate to leave now, but Mother needs me to do something else. I knew it was a bad idea to stay at home," Charlotte said.

Lizzie laughed and they said their goodbyes. After she hung up, she headed to her room to do what Jane was doing, pack. And, she hoped that she might be able to work on her books some more before they left. With that in mind, she spent most of the day going through her closet trying to pick out the best thing to wear.

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The next morning dawned with Lizzie and Jane ready to go before Bingley and Darcy arrived. When they did arrive and Lizzie let them in, they were both surprised to see that they hadn't packed more than they did. They each had a medium sized suitcase with their belongings for the long weekend with them.

"Is that all?" Bingley asked, a little unsure. "Not that what you packed is a lot, it's just that Caroline and Louisa usually pack twice as much for a stay half as long as this one."

"Me and Lizzie learned to pack economically and make the most of what we had," Jane said in response.

Bingley nodded his head and asked if they were ready to go. They answered in the affirmative and he and Darcy got their two bags together and stowed them in the back of the car.

Thus, the four of them were on their way before most people were up for work.

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**A/N:** Just wanted to say thank you to my reviewers. It made me very happy to read what y'all said. And, the whole condom scene actually happened to me. I was in Lizzie's shoes and I thought it would be something funny to put in here. Something I forgot to mention was that I don't know how closely I'll follow the book. I'm debating whether to introduce Wickham or not, but I think I will. I'll definitely include Collins. I don't think it would be the same without him. But, I would appreciate it if y'all would tell me whether I should include Wickham or not. Thanks!


	3. Surprises

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any rights to _Pride & Prejudice_…unfortunately.

**A/N:** Something I forgot to mention is that I'm going to try and update this quickly and have chapters written before I plan to post them because starting next week my life will be a lot more hectic. I'll be tutoring two kids and that will take up a good portion of my time and then I'll be taking three classes at a local college starting July 16th. But, I do plan on updating all through the chaos that is my life. And, a big thank you to my reviewers, you have boosted my spirits and have given me a lot to chew on regarding Wickham, which I am still undecided about. So, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

The ride to Southampton was a pleasant one. They spent the few hours getting to know one another and played a few games that Jane and Lizzie had played when they were growing up and they had do go on road trips. One such game was The Alphabet Game. Basically, you use the billboards, signs, license plates, etc. from the passing scenery and try to find words with all 26 letters before another person does. The words have to be outside the car though, not inside. It was highly amusing to see them play this game because they were acting like such children and like they didn't have a care in the world.

Eventually they all lapsed into silence, thinking their own thoughts. Jane and Bingley were thinking of each other. Bingley was wondering if his asking Jane to come with him to look at the house was too presumptuous and whether she would be willing to go on a date with him or not. And, he was worried about his own feelings toward her. He had heard Darcy and his sisters, mostly his sister, comment on how he always found an agreeable girl everywhere they went. That he always thought himself in love with her because she was so pretty. But, Bingley knew that wasn't the case here. This is the first time he had actually felt nervous about asking a girl to do something. Usually he just asked without a worry in the world. Since his thoughts and feelings were so different than past ones, he wasn't quite sure what he should do. He debated talking to Darcy about it a little later in the night. He decided he would wait to see what happened that night to see whether he should talk to Darcy about it or not.

In the backseat, Jane was having many of the same thoughts. She was just as unsure, but for an entirely different reason. She had never really had any feelings close to what she was experiencing with Bingley, so she didn't really know what to do with herself. She figured she would talk to Lizzie about it that night before they went to bed.

Darcy and Lizzie were something else all together. They spent the last part of the car ride trying to figure the other person out. Darcy because he thought he might like her in that way and Lizzie because she wanted to know why he always seemed to be changing his attitude. It was highly puzzling for her.

Thus, the ride finished with a companionable silence that no one wished to break. Bingley only broke it once to tell them when they were about five minutes away. Lizzie and Jane perked up when they heard this. They each proceeded to press their noses against the glass (figuratively) and gaze at everything, wanting to see the house they were staying in because they heard it was amazing.

A few seconds later they were rewarded with an amazing view of the house and the surrounding countryside. They house was huge, there is no other way to describe it. It was made of brick and it had ivy growing up the walls. It looked to be about three stories tall and just arrested your attention the moment it came into your sights. Jane and Lizzie were speechless.

"Well ladies, what do you think?" Bingley asked them.

"It's amazing!" Jane said. "Your friend owns this?"

Bingley nodded yes and helped Jane out of the backseat of the car. Lizzie was too busy still admiring the house to notice that someone had opened the door for her. She was jolted out of her reverie by someone clearing their throat. Her head snapped around and she saw Darcy holding the door open for her. She blushed as she realized she had been gawking and made to get out of the car. She reached her hand out to grab a hold of something to try and heave herself out of the car (because it was somewhat low to the ground) when Darcy gently took it and helped guide her out of the car.

Lizzie didn't realize that he was holding her hand until she was standing and then noticed what her hand was holding. She blushed again and thanked Mr. Darcy for helping her out of the car and went around to the boot to get her suitcase out. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she bumped into Jane and fell back into Darcy again.

"Omphf!" Lizzie grunted. She had the wind knocked out of her.

"Lizzie! Are you alright?" Jane asked worriedly.

"Everything but my dignity is intact," Lizzie muttered as she turned to thank her savior.

"Thank you again, Mr. Darcy. It seems I am incredibly indebted to you."

"It was nothing, Lizzie. And, please, call me William. I feel like my father should be standing beside me when you call me 'Mr. Darcy,'" he said, with a slight inclination of his head.

Lizzie was able to get to the boot, retrieve her suitcase, and make her way to the house without any further mishaps. The reason she had been such a klutz back there was because of a strange tingling sensation she had gotten when she had touched Darcy's hand. And, it hadn't gone away after they broke contact. She was thoroughly confused by it and didn't know what it meant.

When Lizzie got inside, she was greeted with the sight of Caroline Bingley.

"Charles, what are they doing here?" she asked in a not so quiet whisper.

"I invited them," he said, stating the obvious.

"That I can tell, but why?" she hissed.

He just looked at her, shook his head, and grabbed her arm, taking her with him wherever he was going. Lizzie raised her eyebrows and looked at Jane, who had almost the same expression on her face. Lizzie shrugged her shoulders and followed the servant who was to take her to her room.

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Lizzie didn't see anyone for about an hour since she decided to stay in her room and get settled. She came down around one o'clock because she was getting hungry and she was sure that everyone else had eaten.

When she got downstairs she glanced around, a little unsure of where to go. A servant passed and she politely asked where the kitchen was. The servant told her and continued on her way while Lizzie started to make her way towards the kitchen. She was about halfway there when she heard Bingley call her name. She turned and saw an open door and peered through it. She noticed that it was the dining room and that everyone else had gathered for a late lunch.

"We were about to send a search party out for you," Bingley said jokingly.

Lizzie smiled and walked into the room. She glanced around looking for an empty place. The only available seat was the one beside Caroline, which did not make Lizzie happy, but she was hungry. She would have sat beside Hitler if it meant she got to eat something.

She walked over to the seat and took it, glancing briefly at Caroline to see what her reaction was. She was not disappointed when she saw that a look of pure revulsion passed over her face before she could control it. Lizzie stifled a smile because she felt the same way towards Caroline.

She ignored Caroline for the most part because she was too concerned with getting food on her plate to eat.

"Miss Eliza," Caroline drawled. "Do you always eat that much?"

Lizzie stopped mid-bite. She looked down at her plate and saw why Caroline had asked. She had piled it high with food because she was so hungry. She had actually heard people ask her if she had a tapeworm inside her somewhere that allowed her to eat so much without gaining a pound.

"Actually, _Caro_, I eat more," Lizzie said, continuing to eat.

"You mean, you actually eat that much food all the time?" Caroline asked her incredulously.

Before Lizzie could answer, Jane said, "Yes, she does Caroline. The amazing thing about it is she doesn't gain an ounce of weight. She stays that size."

Caroline got a strange look upon her face. Lizzie figured it was because Caroline had been looking for something to tease her about and hadn't gotten the chance to because Jane had intervened. Although, it didn't seem like Jane realized she had thwarted her plans for she kept eating and talking Bingley.

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After lunch, Jane said she would like to take a walk around the house. Bingley offered to go with her, but she said that wouldn't be necessary and that she would only be a little while. Lizzie thought about asking if she should go with her, but decided not to since Jane hadn't extended the invitation.

So, Lizzie asked where the library was and went there to wile away the time for a little while. Lizzie didn't know how long she had been in there when she heard an amazing clap of thunder. She jumped from the sound and looked out the window to see a streak of lightening light the sky up. She was just thinking that she was glad that Jane had walked earlier when the door to the library burst open.

Lizzie spun around and saw Bingley standing there out of breath.

"Lizzie, have you seen Jane?" he asked her quickly.

"No, I have not. Why?"

"She has not returned from her walk and it is raining something fierce outside."

Lizzie's eyes widened and she practically ran out of the room. She had every intention of going out in the ran to find her when some servants rushed into the room to say that someone had found Jane outside and it looked like something may have knocked her in the head. Bingley told them to take her upstairs to her room and that Lizzie would help them get her changed while he called for the doctor.

Lizzie followed them upstairs and was immensely frightened by the condition that Jane was in. But, she set out to do her best in making her comfortable in her present condition.

**A/N:** Sorry if this is a somewhat lame ending to the chapter. I couldn't think of something better, so this is what came out. Please R&R!


	4. Many a Splendid Thing

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that Jane Austen wrote, just my own plots and such…

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and insight into Wickham. I'm still deciding, but I do have a good idea about what I will do with him. But, feel free to continue sending in your own thoughts about him. So, without further ado, here is my next chapter.

"I feel terrible Lizzie," Jane told her hoarsely. "And, I don't mean just physically. I feel like I'm being such an imposition upon Charles."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow when she heard Jane call Bingley Charles. Jane noticed the look on her face and quickly said, "He prefers me to call him Charles, so I do. But, only in private."

Lizzie just nodded and asked her, "Why do you feel like you're being an imposition? I do believe that Bingley is very happy for you to be here, no matter what your condition. And, he's a doctor, which I think he forgot when he said he was going to call a doctor, so no medical bills. Besides, just a little rest and you'll be able to finish your weekend here like this never happened."

Jane smiled and tried to laugh, but was cut short when she burst into a coughing fit. Lizzie got her a glass of water and handed it to Jane once she was finished coughing up her lung. Jane smiled her thanks and took a few slow sips.

She set the cup back on the bed side table and leaned back against the pillows Bingley had put on her bed. Once Jane was comfortable, she and Lizzie started talking about different things. Lizzie mainly tried to get Jane to tell her about her true feelings for Bingley while Jane tried to get Lizzie to open up about Darcy. Jane could tell that Lizzie maybe felt something towards him, but she couldn't be too sure since she was so guarded with her feelings since the whole incident with George Wickham. (**A/N:** didn't think I'd bring him in so early did you? Hehe…)

Eventually Lizzie told Jane that she should head down for dinner and at least make an appearance.

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Lizzie made her way down the stairs and paused since she didn't know where everyone was. She was about to start walking around aimlessly when she heard the unmistakable voice of Caroline Bingley. Lizzie rolled her eyes. She couldn't hear what she was saying, but she imagined it was something horrible about herself or Jane or about the latest fashion.

Lizzie followed the sound of her voice to a room just off the main hallway. She was able to open the door and sneak in without anyone noticing her, which she was happy about because it gave her the opportunity to listen to what Caroline was saying, and it was apparently about her and Jane.

"Charles! How can you let them stay here? They have apparently come with this in mind," Caroline screeched.

Lizzie winced as she listened to what she said. But, she perked up when she heard Will say, "No they didn't Caroline. They came for a nice weekend and it just so happens that Jane fell ill while here. I highly doubt anyone can plan to become ill."

Caroline stared at him with her mouth open. Lizzie didn't think that anyone had ever spoken to Caroline that way before. She cleared her throat and walked into the room fully, shutting the door behind her. She chose to remain oblivious to what had just transpired and asked Bingley what they were doing that night.

Bingley shrugged and Caroline answered, "I thought you were going to be with Jane all night."

"Jane is sleeping and told me to stay down here as long as I liked," Lizzie told her.

Caroline just seethed. She had been hoping to get rid of Eliza Bennet, but no such luck.

Darcy was the one that suggested they could put a movie on and then do whatever they wanted while the movie was playing. Caroline immediately said that she would love to because it meant she would be close to Will. Bingley said he would join them a little while after supper. He said he wanted to check on Jane. Lizzie shrugged and said that she was in.

In the little bit of time they had left they decided what movie they would like to watch once supper was finished. They had just decided on _The Messengers_ when the butler came in and announced that dinner was ready.

They filed out of the room and dinner was spent mostly in silence. Bingley was the first one finished and said he would set the movie up and then was going to see Jane. Everyone nodded and continued to eat. Caroline then noticed Lizzie wasn't eating with the gusto that she had earlier in the day and said, "Eliza, are you not hungry now?"

It seems Caroline thought that the reason Lizzie wasn't eating was because of her snide remarks about the amount of food she ate. But, unfortunately, Lizzie was going to disappoint her.

"Actually, I'm not," she said, smiling. "I'm still a little full from lunch. I'll probably get something later or I can just suffer till morning if I'm to be barred from the kitchen."

Caroline shot her daggers. She was getting extremely annoyed with Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Caroline had never met a woman that she didn't cow in a few minutes. So, Lizzie was incredibly frustrating to her. She always came back with a witty remark that was as good, if not better, than Caroline's and it vexed her greatly.

Darcy was sitting across the table trying to cover his laugh and grin by holding the napkin in front of his mouth and coughing. Lizzie glanced at him. She could tell that he thought it was amusing. She grinned at him before turning her attention to her plate again.

Thus, the rest of dinner passed in silence which involved Caroline looking at Lizzie liked she wanted to kill her and Darcy trying to not stare at Lizzie because she was so refreshing.

--------------------------------------------

Once dinner was finished, Darcy, Lizzie, and Caroline retired to the den to watch their movie, which Bingley had set up for them. Caroline made a beeline for a sofa, hoping that Darcy would sit with her, but she was disappointed when he sat in the chair next to where Lizzie was sitting. It was yet another thing to add to the list of why she didn't like Lizzie Bennet. She was getting all of Darcy's attention, something that Caroline got occasionally.

Darcy started the movie and settled down to watch it. He tried as hard as he could to concentrate on it, but couldn't because of Lizzie sitting so close to him. He would occasionally sidle a glance at her when he thought she was paying attention to the movie. But, she was doing the same thing he did and on more than one occasion she caught him looking at her, but he didn't notice.

Caroline had noticed that he glanced at Lizzie a few times and didn't like it. She also didn't like the movie very much. She thought it was too scary. So, she thought that maybe if she said she was leaving the room, Darcy would leave as well. But, it was in vein. Neither of them acknowledged that she had left the room, although they both knew she had left. And, they were both scared out of their minds.

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**A/N:** I think this ending is somewhat lame, but it's the best I can do. I got a little frustrated with it. Sorry it took me a few days to update. For some reason I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. But, I plan on having the next chapter up in a day or so. So, please R&R. I enabled anonymous reviews so all people can review. Please take advantage of it. I would like all the feedback I can get.


	5. Being Put in Her Place

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

**A/N:** For those of you who noticed, I did do the wrong form of "vein." It is supposed to be vain. I can't believe I didn't catch it, but a big thanks to Pearl Phoenix for pointing that out to me. I banged my head a little after I read that because I realized that you were right. And, once again, I want to apologize for the last chapter. I think I might go back and re-write it or something because I am really not satisfied with it at all. But, I'll leave that for later. Right now, I'm concentrating on the upcoming and subsequent chapters. I hope this one is better than the last one. And, please R&R. I need all the encouragement I can get. Even if you're telling me I completely suck, but please don't say that. So, on with the chapter.

Caroline would have been very happy to know that nothing happened between Darcy and Lizzie while they were watching the movie. No matter how much they may have liked each other, which neither of them decided to dwell on for too long, so they didn't even know the full extent, they were too nervous to say anything for fear of seeming a complete and utter fool.

As soon as the movie was over, they both sat in their chairs in an uncomfortable silence. Lizzie was the first one to break it by asking, "That was a good movie, wasn't it?"

She immediately wanted to hit herself. It was a pretty mundane question. One that someone would ask of a person they didn't want to talk to.

Darcy just nodded. He didn't trust himself to say anything at the moment. They sat there in silence for a little longer until Darcy asked, "What-" He stopped because his voice was a little higher than it was normally. It seemed his nerves were getting to him.

Lizzie looked at him with a weird look on her face and tried to hide her smile. He cleared his throat and continued, "What did you think of that twist?"

Thus, conversation was opened up where they talked about the movie and their thoughts about it. They both agreed that they hadn't seen the end coming.

They then lapsed into another uncomfortable silence. They both felt like an elephant was in the room, but weren't quite sure what the elephant was. Eventually Lizzie got tired of thinking of things to talk about and told Darcy that she was going to check on Jane.

Darcy nodded and watched her leave the room. As soon as the door shut behind her, his head dropped onto the back of the couch. He was mentally berating himself when the door opened again. But, unfortunately, it wasn't Lizzie. It was Caroline. He inwardly groaned as she made her way over to him.

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Lizzie knocked lightly on the door to Jane's room. She heard a soft, "Come in," and opened the door and slipped in. She walked over to Jane's bed and sat on the edge of it while wetting a cloth in the basin beside her bed to put on her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Lizzie asked her, dabbing at Jane's brow.

"I've definitely felt better," she said weakly. "Charles said that I'm getting better, although it doesn't feel like it. He said that I should be able to walk a little tomorrow, if the medicine takes hold like he thinks it will."

Lizzie smiled when Jane mentioned Bingley. She could tell how much they liked each other. Even though Jane was sick, she was glad they had come, even if she did have to put up with Caroline. This trip was the perfect opportunity for Bingley to dote on Jane and for them to grow closer.

Lizzie sat with Jane until she fell asleep and then slipped out of her room to go to her own.

---------------------------------------------------------------

While Lizzie was pleasantly occupied upstairs with her sister, Darcy was stuck downstairs with Charles sister and hating every minute of it. The moment Caroline had walked in, she immediately started to talk about how ill-bred Lizzie was and outlined the ways she despised her. Darcy was just being polite in listening to her, not really agreeing with her. Just grunting at the appropriate moments, but Caroline didn't notice this. And, even if she did, she was too far into her tirade to care.

Eventually, Darcy couldn't stand it anymore. "Caroline, I think you've said enough."

Caroline went on talking for a few seconds more, then stopped when she realized what Darcy had said.

"Whatever do you mean William?" she asked, hoping that he wanted to do something else.

Darcy's face blanched and he suppressed a shudder at what she was suggesting. He then said, "I mean that I do not appreciate you talking down about Jane or Elizabeth. They have done nothing to deserve your censure and yet you give it freely. I think it would be best to bite your tongue when in my presence. And, in Charles' for that matter."

With that, Darcy rose and left the room leaving behind a very flustered Caroline Bingley.


	6. Musings

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own anything…unfortunately.

**A/N:** Sorry for the shortness of the last chapter. At the end of it, I got a bit of writer's block, so I went ahead and posted it. I'm hoping this next chapter will be a little longer. And, thanks to all the people that have reviewed so far. It's really brightened my day to read everyone's reviews. It makes me feel loved. So, without further ado, here is the next chapter.

The next few days were fairly uneventful. Jane recovered enough to be able to enjoy the rest of stay and not be cooped up in her room. Bingley was beyond happy with that and spent as much time as he possibly could with Jane, not wanting the weekend to end. Darcy and Lizzie finally became comfortable enough around each other to find that they had a lot in common and spent a good portion of their time together as well. The only person that wasn't happy with these two developments was Caroline. She spent her time seething about the Bennet sisters and plotting ways to break up their little party.

By the time the party left, Bingley was seriously considering buying the house that he had been there to look at. From what he said, it was a modestly small house. If you call a three story house with over 100 rooms modest. Or, that was Lizzie's thinking at least. His description said that it was a fairly old house that was in very good condition. Of course, Bingley also made sure to say that it didn't rival Darcy's home, Pemberley. Lizzie hoped that she would be able to see it.

Bingley assured her and Jane that as soon as he settled whether he would buy it or not, he would invite them over as soon as he was able. The car ride back to London was decidedly a little more morose this time around with Caroline in the car with them. With her there it seemed she just sucked the fun out of the car. In fact, Lizzie had started calling Caroline "fun sucker" in her head.

The only person that seemed to be oblivious to the heaviness of the air in the car was Caroline, who was chattering endlessly about completely mundane things that no one in the car really cared about. Jane was the only one that showed some sort of semblance of listening to what she was saying.

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By the time they reached London, everyone was ready to be rid of Caroline. So, Bingley made a point to drop Caroline off at a friend's place before dropping Jane and Lizzie off at their apartment.

When they pulled up in front of their apartment building, Bingley and Darcy got out to help the women with their luggage. Jane and Lizzie both tried to assure them that they didn't need help, but neither of the men were listening. So, that is how it ended up with the four of them having a quiet dinner in Jane and Lizzie's apartment.

It started out innocently enough. They invited Bingley and Darcy in for a little while and they ended up staying so long that they thought it would be rude to not invite them to stay for dinner.

Since no one really felt like cooking, they decided to order out. They called their order in and since it would take a while for it to be delivered, Bingley and Darcy decided to go pick it up. Once they walked out of the apartment, Lizzie wandered back to her room to check her e-mail and look over her manuscripts. But, she was followed to her room.

"Lizzie?" Jane started, a little hesitant.

Lizzie jumped. She didn't know Jane had followed her and was thus incredibly surprised. "Yes, Jane?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you liked Darcy?"

Lizzie's eyes bugged out. She immediately retorted, "What? I don't…I mean…there's no way…is it that obvious?"

Jane tried to hide a smile. "No. But, for someone that knows you as well as I know you, it is somewhat obvious."

Lizzie perked up a little at that. She was worried that if Jane had seen it then maybe Bingley and possibly even Darcy had seen it. Since he hadn't, she felt better knowing that she wouldn't be put on the spot.

"You won't tell him or Bingley will you?" Lizzie asked her.

"I'll leave that up to you. It's your feelings and your secret is safe with me," Jane said as she stood up to walk out of the room.

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Interestingly enough, Bingley and Darcy were having a very similar conversation in Bingley car.

"So, Darcy," Bingley started, not quite sure how to proceed. He knew he was treading on some shaky ground since Darcy didn't really talk about his personal life or his feelings.

Darcy looked at him expectantly, not expecting the words that would come out of Bingley mouth.

"How long have you liked Lizzie?" Bingley blurted out.

It was a good thing Bingley was driving, because, if he hadn't been, they most certainly would have been involved in a wreck. That was the amount of shock that Darcy went through.

Darcy took a few seconds to compose himself. "What gave you that idea?" he asked eventually.

"Well, besides the obvious fact that you can't take your eyes off her when you're in the same room as her and your comment at the first party we attended."

Darcy shifted uncomfortably. He didn't really like the direction this conversation was taking. "She intrigues me. That doesn't mean I want to bed her."

Bingley snorted. He didn't for a second believe that. He was pretty sure that Darcy liked Lizzie. He had never seen him study a woman so much and make the effort to be nice to her.

"Darcy, I've never seen you in this state before. I honestly think this is something you need to treat seriously-"

Bingley never got to finish his thought because Darcy interrupted him with, "I am taking this seriously. I just think you're reading into the situation a little too much."

Bingley shook his head. He knew Darcy was in denial, he just didn't think that he was that much in denial. He decided to try a different approach.

"Ok. Well, if you don't like her, then why have the two of you been almost exclusively in each others company since the movie night?"

"I was avoiding Caroline," was his quick reply.

"We both know that's bull shit Darcy. Caroline made a point to not be around anyone of our party after that night. By the way, what happened to make her do that? Those were some of the most peaceful days of my life…"

Darcy realized that Bingley wasn't going to let the matter drop, so he finally admitted that he liked Lizzie a little more than the average friend and then told him what he said to Caroline. Bingley was shocked. It was a good thing they were back at the apartment and parked, otherwise they would have had a mishap.

"Someone finally put her in her place," Bingley said wonderingly.

Darcy just shrugged and made his way to the elevators. Bingley followed suit and they were soon back in the apartment eating dinner with two of the most beautiful women they had ever had the pleasure of being in company with.

**A/N:** I hope the length of this one is a little better. I decided to end it there because I hope the next chapter can be the dinner and maybe some other things. And, the good news is, I'm starting on it immediately! My writer's block went away as quickly as it came!


	7. The Date?

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned it…but I don't.

**A/N:** So, here's an update that I'm posting because I leave today and won't be back till Sunday. So, I'm posting it now. And, I have good news for those that wish to know it. I've had inspiration hit in the form of two new ideas for stories. And, be shocked when I say I've already outlined what's going to happen and that I'm going to start writing soon. But, I won't be posting it for a while. I want to try and write as much of it as possible before posting, and I want to finish this story first. So, I hope you enjoy!

Even though Darcy and Lizzie felt somewhat uncomfortable around each other because at least one person knew of their feelings toward the other person, it soon passed. They quickly forgot their serious conversations and started their playful banter up again.

"So, Lizzie," Bingley said, breaking into the conversation Lizzie and Darcy were having, "when is your next book being published?"

Lizzie swallowed and looked a little uncomfortable. Bingley looked like he wanted to hurt himself when he saw Lizzie's face. Before either of them could say anything, however, Jane interjected, "Don't think that she doesn't want to tell you Charles. She's just a little funny when talking about her work. I think she thinks that if she talks about it she'll jinx her good luck and her book will do horribly."

Bingley nodded his head and lightly laughed. "I understand Lizzie."

"Thanks. It's not that I don't want to talk about it, I'm just scared that it will cause something to happen to it before it hits the shelves."

When she saw Bingley looks, she clarified, "Meaning that something happens and it can't be published. I don't mind talking about the stuff that I haven't sent in to be published yet."

"Well, in that case, can you tell me about those?" Bingley asked her.

The rest of dinner was spent with Lizzie talking about her books and the ideas she had for the future. She amused Bingley and Darcy with tales of where she gets ideas for her books. She got a lot of them from her experiences with her sisters and from school. Her novels come from stories of her friends. She also told them about the one she was currently writing. It involved the girl wanting to run away to be a pirate and finally realizing that she couldn't do that and still do the things she loves at home.

Bingley thought it would be an amazing story and told her such. As he was about to ask if he could see it when Lizzie's cell phone rang from her room. She smiled in way of an apology and rushed to answer her phone. She picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Lizzie?" the disembodied voice on the other end asked.

"Yeah, who is this?" Lizzie asked confused.

"This is Bill Collins," they started.

"Who? I have no idea who you are," she told him, angry that whoever it was had her number.

"I'm a distant cousin on your father's side. Your mother gave me your number."

Lizzie couldn't believe that her mother would do that. Scratch that. She could believe it. She just didn't want to.

"Ok. Why did she give it to you?" she asked him, angry that her mother would do this to her.

"She said that you would love to go out with me tomorrow night," he said, sounding extremely confidant.

"What?! She was lying to you. I can't go out with you tomorrow night."

There was a silence on the other end of the line. She could hear him breathing, so she knew he was there. While this prolonged silence was going on, she heard movement in her bedroom doorway and turned around to see Darcy standing there. The look on his face said he wanted to know what was going on. She covered the mouthpiece and told him about it. He nodded his head that he understood and then said something that neither of them could believe. He said, "You can go out with me. That means you won't be lying."

She looked at him and thought about it. From the sound of his voice, she doubted this Bill Collins was something to look at. And, he sounded incredibly annoying. She nodded that she would.

Bill finally said something. "Why not? Your mother said you didn't have anything planned for tomorrow. She had one of your sisters look at your planner."

Once again, Lizzie was speechless. But, before she could say anything, Darcy gently took the phone from her and said, "She can't because she's going somewhere with me."

Lizzie just stared at him. She couldn't believe that he was doing this. Not that she wasn't happy, but she couldn't believe that he would do something like this to help her. A few seconds later Darcy hung up her phone and handed it back to her. She stared at it, then stared at him.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked him quizzically.

"I've met Bill Collins."

Her eyes widened. She wanted to ask him what he was like, but didn't want to seem rude. Luckily, Darcy was willing to tell her how he knew him.

"He's an assistant to an aunt of mine. That's how I know him. And, trust me, I just saved you from certain death."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's known to be…excessively…flattering," he said, struggling for the right words.

"And, that's a bad thing?" she asked, still not quite understanding his meaning.

"Yes. He is long-winded and compliments you on everything," he started. He noticed her face and saw that she still didn't understand. So, he continued, "While at the same time comparing you to his boss. Basically, he contradicts himself."

Realization dawned on her face as what he said sunk in. She involuntarily shuddered at the thought of being subjected to a night of him.

"Thanks for helping me. I really mean that. If he really is anything like you said he is, I'm glad I'm not going to be anywhere near him."

Darcy smiled. "Well, since we're here alone…" he started.

"What? We're here alone?"

"Jane and Charles went for a 'stroll,'" he told her, using air quotations.

She nodded her head, signaling that she understood. She figured they wanted some alone time away from everyone because they had constantly been surrounded by Bingley's sisters and then her and Darcy. So, since they thought they had a lot of time, Lizzie said she would show him some story boards for her work.

But, little did they know, Bingley and Jane had gone on the walk for an entirely different reason than they thought.

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As soon as Bingley and Jane got out of the apartment, they grinned at each other. "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be," Bingley said looking at her.

"I know. I'm so glad her phone rang when it did. I thought we would never be able to get out of the apartment if something didn't happen."

"I know what you mean," Bingley said as they started forward.

After a few moments of silence, Jane asked, "Do you think our plan will work?"

Bingley laughed. "If it works the first time, I'll be delightfully surprised. I can tell they like each other, but even with us purposefully throwing them together, they might not do anything."

Jane nodded her head in agreement. Then a thought dawned on her. "Charles, I think I may know who was calling Lizzie."

He looked at her, waiting for her response. Jane then told him about her mother calling and asking if Lizzie had anything planned for tomorrow and that she looked in her planner and said she didn't see anything. So, she thought that their mother may be trying to set her up with someone. Bingley just laughed it off.

"If your mother can succeed in making Lizzie agree to something like that, that will be the day."

Jane smiled and decided that she agreed with him. Besides, she knew her mother's history of trying to set all her daughters up with "eligible" young men. She couldn't wait to ask Lizzie who it was that called and what happened with it.

**A/N: **Ok, so like I mentioned at the top, I'll be out of town for the next few days. I hope this was a good update and that you enjoyed it. And, I hope it was long enough to last. Please leave me some reviews to read when I get back. It would be depressing to come back and there not be any there…


	8. Date pt 1

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned it…

**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews! They made me feel amazing when I read them. So, here's some Darcy and Lizzie action, sort of, for those that asked for it. The next chapter will definitely be the date. Hope you enjoy it! And, a little note, I'm starting my classes tomorrow, so my updates might be a little longer in coming. But, I'm trying to get my next chapters written out so I can still update regularly.

The next day came and Lizzie was very nervous. She was looking forward to her date with Darcy, who had asked her to call him Will, but she was terrified by it at the same time. She had told Jane what had happened, and Jane was horrified at their mother, but happy that Lizzie and Darcy were going on a date.

Lizzie spent the entire day trying to figure out what to wear. Darcy said something casual. He told her he would probably be wearing nice trousers and a polo. So, Lizzie decided to go with her favorite outfit: a black and white skirt and a black polo, both from Target, and a pair of simple black flats.

Now, all she had to do was wait till she had to get ready. She had just sat down to read a book that she had been wanting to read when the phone rang. She answered it. Before she could get a word in, someone started screeching on the other end, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE ALREADY GOING SOMEWHERE WITH SOMEONE?!"

Lizzie pulled the phone away from her ear and rolled her eyes. She knew she should be expecting a phone call from her mother, she was just expecting it a little earlier than right now.

"HOW ARE YOU EVER GOING TO GET MARRIED IF YOU DON'T DATE?! I BET YOU LIED TO HIM SO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE!"

Lizzie huffed and interrupted her mother before she could start yelling again, "Mother! Calm down!"

"Don't you tell me to calm down young lady! You lied to a man that was interested in you!"

Before her mother could continue, Lizzie said, "I lied! How do you know that? Did Bill Collins tell you that? And, if he did, he's the liar. You can call Jane and ask her. She knows about my date tonight!" Lizzie said, starting to get a little angry.

"I will do no such thing. You have probably told her to lie for you. For your information, Bill is on his way over to your apartment right now so you two can have a nice chat and then dinner."

"No, Mom. I will not let him in. I have other plans that I had before I even heard from him. I am not breaking them."

With that, Lizzie hung up the phone, not caring if her mother was mad or if she tried to call back. She sat in silence for a few minutes, and then decided to call Jane and tell her what happened.

Once again Jane said she couldn't believe what their mother was doing, although she tried to say it was her motherly love. Lizzie snorted at that and asked that she please not let him in the building. Once she finished with Jane, she called down to the front desk of their apartment building and told them that no one was to be able to come up to the apartment if their name wasn't William Darcy or Charles Bingley.

Once she finished with all that, she sat back in satisfaction. That was one of the things she loved about the building that lived in. It didn't cost too terribly much to live in and they had security downstairs to make sure people that weren't supposed to get in didn't get in.

Lizzie was only able to relax for a little while longer when her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Ms. Bennet, I'm incredibly sorry to disturb you, but a Mr. Bill Collins is down here and he demands that he see you at once," Henry, the manager said.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe this guy. "Well, you know my instructions. Tell him I'm not seeing anyone or something like that."

"I already tried," Henry stated. "That resulted in him throwing a temper tantrum. Do you mind coming downstairs for a few minutes so we can get him out of the lobby? To be quite honest, he's drawing a bit of a crowd."

Lizzie gave him her assurances and headed down. When she got downstairs, she was greeted with the sight of a man that strongly resembled a toad. She suppressed the shudder than ran through her body.

"Ah, my dear Lizzie," Bill started. "I was just trying to inform these gentlemen that it would be impossible for me to not go up and see you seeing as how we are dating."

Lizzie couldn't stop the look of horror that came over her face. She looked behind Bill and saw that the staff and residents had a look that was probably very close to hers.

"I think that would be impossible, Bill. Especially since I've never met you before and have not agreed to go out with you. Which I never will do."

"But, your mother stated that you were playing hard to get and that all I had to do was show up here and everything would be fine," Bill said in what she thought he assumed was a sexy voice.

Lizzie fought the urge to gag. "Bill, I think you are sorely mistaken. I have no intention of ever going anywhere with you."

"But, how can you say that dearest Elizabeth? Your mother-" Bill started, but never got the chance to finish.

"She can say that because she's with me Bill," Darcy said from behind him.

Bill looked like he had been shot he was so surprised at hearing Darcy's voice.

"Darcy? I had no idea that you were…I mean…if I had known I would never have…" Bill tried to say. He eventually stopped trying to say anything and left the building somewhat dejectedly.

Lizzie and Darcy watched him leave. And, so did everyone else. Once he had walked out of their line of sight, Lizzie gestured for Darcy to follow her and she made her way to the elevators.

They rode up in silence. Lizzie wanted to thank Darcy for helping her and Darcy wanted to ask if she was okay and what was happening between her and Bill Collins. But, neither of them said anything. It wasn't until they arrived at her apartment that he presented her with the lily's he had been holding since arriving.

"Thank you. They're lovely and my favorite," she said, smiling.

"Jane told me you liked them. I thought it might help me," Darcy said, somewhat nervously.

Lizzie walked into the kitchen to get a vase. As she rummaged around underneath her sink to find her, her voice drifted up with the question, "Not that I don't appreciate your help or anything, but why are you here so early?"

He shrugged and then realized that she couldn't see him. Instead, he cleared his throat and said, "I couldn't wait, I guess."

He heard her laugh and then saw her come up with a vase. "I'm not that great you know," she said while filling up the vase with water and placing the flowers in it.

"To me you are," Darcy said in an almost whisper. It was so soft that Lizzie didn't think she had heard it, but she did.

She slowly turned around and looked at him. She could tell that he meant what he said. He really did think she was great, although she couldn't figure out why. He noticed that she was looking at him and started to look back.

They stood there for a few minutes just looking at each other until Darcy slowly made his way to stand in front of her. When she saw him coming over she backed up until her back hit the counter. When he stopped in front of her, he put his hands on either side of her on the counter and leaned in until their faces were only inches apart.

He looked in her eyes for permission and started to lean in when it was given. Just as their lips were about to meet, the door to the apartment burst open and Jane ran into the kitchen, interrupting their moment.

**A/N:** Sorry for the cliffy, but maybe it will help reviews…jk. I'm not trying to bribe you. Although, reviews are very nice. But, I hope to have the next chapter up in the next few days.


	9. Date pt 2

**Disclaimer:** As usual, don't own it…

**A/N:** Drum roll please…here's the date! Hope you enjoy it!

Lizzie and Darcy almost sprang apart when they heard Jane enter the kitchen. Jane paused when she saw them both standing there and a look of confusion passed over her features, but it was quickly replaced with a look of joy.

"Me and Charles are dating!" Jane said like it was the most amazing thing ever.

Lizzie looked at her like she had sprouted a second head.

"I thought you already were," she said, tentatively.

Jane laughed and pooh-poohed at Lizzie. "No, silly. He just asked me today to be his girlfriend."

Now both Darcy and Lizzie were looking at her like she was crazy. "He actually asked you to be his girlfriend?" Lizzie asked, still not understanding what the amazing news was.

Jane looked at Lizzie, then at Darcy. At that moment, realization dawned on her face. "Oh, I'm so sorry Lizzie! I completely forgot! Tonight's your date!"

"Jane, it's fine. It doesn't really start for another few hours," Lizzie said with a wave of her hand. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole 'Charles asked me to be his girlfriend' thing."

"Today he asked me if it was okay to consider ourselves dating. For each of our sakes. He didn't want me to be uncomfortable if I was referred to that way. Or something like that," Jane said, still smiling.

Lizzie nodded like she understood, although she really didn't. She stole a quick glance at Darcy and figured that he probably had a look similar to hers. She glanced back to where Jane was and saw that she wasn't there anymore. She then heard a door shut and realized she went to her room to give her and Darcy some privacy.

"Well, Will…that sounded redundant…I'm going to go get ready. It shouldn't take me that long. The T.V. is in there and if you want something to drink, help yourself," Lizzie rambled.

Darcy nodded his head and watched her leave the room. He then made his way to the den to watch some T.V. while he waited.

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Lizzie didn't take too long to get ready. What took so long was trying to figure out what to wear. She didn't want to come across as too casual or too formal. So, she was torn. She also couldn't get the "almost kiss" out of her head. She was sure that if Jane hadn't come in at that moment that her and Will would have ended up kissing. In some ways, she was disappointed. She wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him. But, she didn't want to seem like she was too easy. She was worried that if she kissed him too soon, if in fact, it did come to that, that she would think she was incredibly easy or something.

She huffed in frustration. Her mind was still on this train of thought when Jane knocked on the door and walked in.

"Just coming to make sure you haven't jumped out your window," she said, trying to be funny. "Will looks a little nervous. I think you should hurry up."

"I'm ready. I just can't decide what to wear," Lizzie said sounding bewildered.

Jane stifled a smile and looked at what Lizzie had on her bed. She sifted through her cloths and almost immediately pulled up a dress. She held it up to Lizzie and said, "This is what you should wear."

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Darcy felt like he had been sitting on the couch for hours when he heard someone coming down the hall. He turned around on the couch and was speechless. Lizzie was wearing a red wrap dress that hugged her in all the right places and had her hair down and had curled it a little more that what it normally was.

He felt his mouth go dry. He closed his mouth and swallowed. He then realized he was sitting down still and stood up. He almost fell over upon standing because the coffee table was somewhat close to the couch. He quickly steadied himself and looked at Lizzie again. He saw that she was stifling a giggle. He nervously smiled at her and walked towards her. He stopped when he was a few feet away and said, "You look beautiful tonight."

Lizzie blushed at his words. She saw that Darcy had offered his arm and she took it. They made their way out of the apartment and to where Darcy had parked his car, a GTO with racing stripes. He opened the door for her and handed her in and then walked around to his side.

They passed the car ride in companionable silence, one of them breaking it periodically to ask the other person a question.

Eventually Lizzie got curious and asked, "Where are we going?"

She couldn't tell where they were going and it seemed like they had been going for forever.

Darcy just smiled in response. He had no intention of telling her. He wanted it to be a big surprise. He also thought she would like it because the sun was just starting to set and what he had arranged would work perfectly.

The next few minutes passed with Lizzie pestering him about what they were doing and with him refusing to say. She had just given up the fight when they arrived at their destination. The only problem was that Lizzie couldn't really see anything. The only thing she could see was trees, and a lot of them.

Once Darcy parked the car he turned to her and said, "Ok, I'm going to need you to trust me."

Lizzie looked at him weird. "Why? Is this where you take me into the woods and kill me?"

"No, I just have to blindfold you for a few minutes until we get to our actual destination."

Lizzie thought about it and slowly nodded her head. She knew he wouldn't intentionally hurt her, but she was still nervous about the whole being blindfolded thing.

They both got out of the car and Darcy walked her over to an open air carriage. He handed her in and then followed her up. Once they were seated, he got the blindfold out and put it on her. When he was satisfied that she couldn't see anything, he told the driver to drive on.

They rode for about five minutes until they stopped. To Lizzie, it felt like five incredibly long minutes because she couldn't see anything. She felt the carriage shift as Darcy got down and then felt him guiding her down the steps and onto the ground. He then took her hand and walked with her towards their destination.

She had to walk up a few flights of stairs to get to their destination, so she wasn't quite sure where they were or where they were going.

Once they stopped, he whispered in her ear, "Are you ready?"

She nodded that she was and the blindfold was lifted. She blinked against the bright light. Once her vision had adjusted, she gasped. They were standing on the roof of one of the buildings in London with a few of most of the city. The sun was just going down over the western side and if she looked to the eastern side, she could see night fall.

"I guess you like it?"

In response she hugged him really tightly and said that she did. After a few moments, he extracted himself from her and led her to the table he had had set up on the roof.

For Lizzie and Darcy both, dinner passed very quickly. Lizzie couldn't remember a time when she had ever been so at ease with someone that she didn't know that well and Darcy couldn't remember ever being so enchanted by a woman.

What neither of them realized was that they had never felt these emotions before. By the time they finished dinner, it was getting to be quite late, so Darcy said he would drive her home, unless there was something else she wanted to do. She said there wasn't and then added, "I need to get back anyway. I have a meeting with my editor tomorrow morning dealing with one of my books."

The ride back was spent a little differently than the ride there. They each were thinking about the other person and wondering what would happen when Lizzie was dropped off. They also kept trying to steal glances at the other person when they thought they weren't looking.

By the time they arrived back at Lizzie's apartment, they were both thoroughly nervous. Darcy handed her out of the car and walked her up to the door of her building. She told him that he didn't need to go in with her.

They stood awkwardly on the steps for a few moments. They had already made plans to see each other in a few days, so they couldn't talk about that, thus they were both very uncomfortable.

They eventually started to slowly inch towards each other until they were so close that their noses were almost touching. Darcy lowered his head towards Lizzie and Lizzie raised her face and closed her eyes in anticipation of what was to come. Just as they were about to kiss, someone laughed.

Lizzie jolted as if she had been shot, as did Darcy (because Lizzie had bumped him when she jerked). Lizzie had jerked because she recognized that laughter. It was something she had hoped to never hear again. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky.

**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to update. These classes are killing me. So, I probably won't be updating as often in the next month or so unless I can get ahead with my reading. And, I apologize if the date isn't what you thought it would be. I couldn't really think of anything good to put there that involved dialogue, so I just skimmed over it. But, I hope what I put there is up to snuff. I covered almost two pages! As always, please read and review.


	10. Wickham

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing…but I wish I did.

**A/N:** A big apology is coming. I haven't updated in forever and I'm sorry about that. My summer classes are over, but my regular classes have started back up. So…updates are still going to be sporadic. But, I hope to use this weekend to write some chapters to have on the backburner to post somewhat regularly. So, I hope that this chapter is worth the wait and that I won't get lynched if it takes a while to get the next one up…

Lizzie closed her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Wickham had come back. It was one of the things that she had hoped wouldn't happen. Before she could gather her wits about her, Wickham said, "This is rich. My two _favorite_ people in the world are here together. Who would have thought it?"

Lizzie's eyes snapped open upon hearing this. She looked at Darcy and saw that he was looking at her too.

"Oh. I take it that neither of you knew that I knew the other, right?" Wickham said, gleeful at this development.

But, before he could continue, Darcy cut him off by saying, "What do you want, Wickham?"

"I was just coming to see my favorite ex-girlfriend," was the reply.

Lizzie snorted when she heard that. "Favorite ex-girlfriend? Yeah right. You had enough girls on the side when you were dating me that I highly doubt I hold that _coveted_ honor."

Wickham looked stunned. When they were dating she had always been somewhat complacent with him. At least up until the point that she found him with two other people in her bed. Then, she wasn't so complacent. He decided to play it dumb.

"What do you mean baby?" Wickham asked while trying to move closer to Elizabeth.

Wickham didn't get close enough to her. Darcy got in his way first. "I don't think you should be doing that Wickham," Darcy said with thinly veiled malice.

Wickham sneered. "What are you going to do about it big guy? Get your cousin Richard to come clear up your mess like last time?"

Wickham didn't even see the fist coming. One minute he was standing there laughing at Darcy and the next he's on the pavement, out cold.

Darcy turned around to check on Elizabeth and saw that she was still standing there with a look of disbelief on her face. "Lizzie?" he asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

She didn't move. He moved up the steps to her and reached out to touch her arm. When she felt him touch her, she flinched. He snatched his hand back, scared that he had done something. But, she looked at him and immediately burst into tears. He pulled her into his arms while pulling out his cell phone to call the police to collect Wickham. Once he finished with his call, he was able to wrap her in his arms. She sobbed into his jacket, her cries wracking her body.

They stayed that way until the police arrived and collected Wickham, who was still unconscious on the pavement. Once they had stashed him in the back of the car, they took Darcy and Lizzie's statements on what happened. After they finished their questioning, Darcy and Lizzie headed up to Lizzie's apartment.

Darcy was worried about Lizzie. She had answered the officer's questions, but her answers had been brief and too the point. She hadn't spoken without being talked to. She walked into the apartment and flicked the lights on. She turned to face Darcy. Darcy was astonished at what he saw. Earlier that night she had been vibrant and vivacious. But, now, she looked drawn. The light had gone out of her eyes.

"Is Jane here?" Darcy asked.

Lizzie shook her head.

"Do you want me to call her and get her to come home?"

Lizzie nodded and moved aside to let him in. He took her proffered phone and called Jane and gave a short version of what had happened. Ten minutes later she was walking into the apartment. She immediately rushed to Lizzie and enveloped her into a hug. Lizzie burst into tears immediately upon seeing Jane come into the room.

Jane gazed at Darcy over Lizzie's shoulder and mouthed "Thank you." He nodded and took his leave of the apartment. He was out the door and in the stairwell when he heard his name. He turned and saw Jane standing a few feet behind him.

"Thanks for looking after her. I really appreciate it. I hate to think of what might have happened if you hadn't been there."

"It was no problem," Darcy said, blushing slightly. "I know Wickham. I wouldn't want him around my sister. Let alone the girl that I care deeply for."

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He immediately wanted to pull them back into his mouth. He shifted uncomfortably under the stare of Jane. She was looking at him with an odd look on her face.

"You care deeply for her then?"

Darcy could only nod.

"Good. She needs someone like you. Give her a call tomorrow. She should be better by then."

With that, Jane turned on her heel and went back into her apartment. Darcy turned and slowly made his way downstairs while thinking about all that had happened that night.

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Jane and Lizzie stayed up late that night. Lizzie told Jane what had happened and why she thought she may have reacted the way she did. While it had been a while since her and Wickham had dated, she still felt that little inkling of insecurity when with a guy because of him. It was just something about finding your boyfriend in bed with two other women (your own bed too) that made you doubt the other sex.

Jane was one of the few people that understood this. She was also the only one that knew what had happened between her and Wickham. The only reason she knew that was because she came home a few minutes after Lizzie discovered him, thus she witnessed the sad show that he put on trying to save face. But, it didn't work. Lizzie, with a little help from Jane, threw the three of them out in the hall without their clothes and promptly locked the door so they couldn't get back in. The next day they had the apartment re-keyed.

Ever since then, Lizzie had been a little more bitter and a lot more reclusive. She used to go out a lot, then after "the incident" as it came to be called, she locked herself in her room and refused to leave unless absolutely necessary. That's why Jane hoped Darcy really did care for Lizzie because she deserved it. And, Jane could tell that Lizzie cared for Darcy as well. She wasn't stupid. Lizzie got a dreamy look on her face when talking about Darcy and she had interrupted the kiss from earlier that day. So, she knew that something was brewing. She just hoped that this little thing with Wickham wouldn't taint it.

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Lizzie awoke the next day in a much better mood than she had gone to sleep in. While she still wasn't happy with the Wickham incident from the night before, she understood that it might be what she needed to move on in her life and finally be with someone that was good for her.

She was humming softly to herself when Jane walked into the kitchen.

"You're in a good mood," she remarked with a raised eyebrow.

Lizzie just smiled in return and kept humming. Much of breakfast was passed in this manner: Lizzie humming to herself quietly and Jane looking at her quizzically, wondering if Lizzie even remembered the night before.

Breakfast was just finishing when the phone rang. Lizzie went to answer it. It was a few minutes later that Jane heard a thud coming from the living room. She dropped the dish she was washing into the sink and ran into the living room to find that Lizzie had dropped the phone.

"Lizzie, what's the matter?"

"It's Lydia," was her reply.

"What about her?"

"Wickham broke out of jail last night."

"What does that have to do with Lydia?" Jane asked, not understanding what was happening.

"Wickham kidnapped her. That's what it has to do with Lydia."

**A/N:** Once again, sorry for the delay. But, please be nice and review.


	11. The Past

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…wish I did.

**A/N:** Sorry for the big silence. Classes and life in general have been very hectic. This is the first chance I've had since the last update to sit and write. And, the first real inspiration. So, sorry and I hope this was worth the wait.

After Darcy left Lizzie's apartment, he didn't know what to do. He was pretty riled up about the Wickham ordeal. So, he decided to drive for a little while. He drove without a destination in mind, so when he ended up in front of his cousin Richard's apartment, he started. Then, he realized that it might be a good idea to talk to someone about it.

He climbed out of his car and walked up the front steps of Richard's apartment building. He opened the door and nodded to the attendant at the desk. The attendant nodded back, recognizing Darcy from his many visits with Richard.

While Darcy awaited the elevator, he continued to mull over what had happened with Wickham earlier. He was so deep in thought that he didn't recognize the person in the elevator until she attached herself to his arm.

"William, darling," Caroline Bingley said while pressing herself to his arm. "It is so delightful to see you."

Darcy cringed. He couldn't believe that he would see her here of all places. He was also mad that he wasn't paying enough attention to remove himself from in front of the elevator before Caroline recognized him.

While he was having these musings, he realized that Caroline was talking to him and had asked him a question.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" he asked her.

"I was asking what you were doing here. I didn't think I had told you that I had just moved in, but I guess Charles told you and you decided to come by and welcome me. And, then I was saying that it was too bad since I already have plans for this evening, but you can come along."

Darcy blinked a few times before answering. "I'm sorry Caroline, but I can't. I have some important business to attend to tonight. And, I didn't know that you had moved here. I haven't spoken to Charles lately."

That was a bit of a lie, but he figured it wouldn't hurt in the long run. Caroline looked shocked. But, before she could say anything, the doors to the elevator opened and Darcy slipped in after the occupants got out.

When the door closed, he breathed a sigh of relief. He knew it could have much worse with her if he wasn't careful.

----------------------------------------------------------

Darcy knocked on Richard's door, hoping that he wasn't interrupting something. Richard answered the door almost immediately. "Darcy? What are you doing here?" Richard asked as he opened the door.

"Wickham," was his reply has he moved past him into the apartment.

Darcy made his way into the living room and sat down on the coach. He watched as Richard moved past him to sit in one of his armchairs.

"What about Wickham?" Richard asked.

Darcy told Richard what had happened that night and sat back to see what Richard would say.

"So, he knows Lizzie?" Richard asked.

"It would seem that way, yes. But, I don't really know what happened between them to cause her to dislike him so much."

"Well, you might need to find out. But, if it's deeply personal, I don't really see her telling you just yet. Although, it seems like he's done a number on her," Richard said thoughtfully. "Are you going to tell her about your past?"

"I think I need to," Darcy replied slowly. "I don't her family to get mixed up with him. I get the feeling that Jane may be the only person that really knows what happened with him."

Richard nodded his agreement. The two cousins sat in silence for a little while, each in their own thoughts. Eventually, Richard roused himself and said, "It's kind of late Darcy. Why don't you go sleep in my extra bedroom and we'll think about it a little more in the morning."

Darcy nodded his head and made his way to the room and found some much needed sleep.

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The next morning, Darcy was awakened by his cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" he said groggily.

He listened to the voice on the other end, immediately becoming alert. He thanked them quickly and got out of bed. He quickly gathered his things. He heard Richard in the kitchen and quickly told him what had happened. Darcy then took his leave of the apartment and made like a bat out of hell for Lizzie's apartment.

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Jane stared at Lizzie after hearing what she said. "Wickham kidnapped Lydia?"

Lizzie just nodded her head. She couldn't believe it either. What she wanted to know was how Wickham got out and then how he got Lydia. While they were both pondering this, their phone rang again. It was their mother.

Jane answered the phone so Lizzie didn't have to deal with her. While Jane was dealing with their mother, there was a knock on the door. She figured it was the police since they said they'd be coming by, so she went to open it. Instead, she saw William Darcy standing on the other side of the door.

"William?" she asked, looking at him and not even realized she had called him by his first name.

He looked at her and pulled her into his arms, whispering soothing words into her ear as he slowly guided the two of them into the apartment.

As he was maneuvering the two of them onto the coach, Jane walked back into the room looking a little frazzled. She smiled at Darcy and then told Lizzie that their mother was having a fit of nerves and wanted the two of them to come home that day. Lizzie just stared at her.

"I can't Jane. I have too much here to try and make a trip home. Besides, you know that she'll just complain the entire time we're there and say that if we just loved her as much as she loved her, then this wouldn't have happened."

Jane widened her eyes at Lizzie's statements.

"You shouldn't say that!" Jane admonished.

"I'm just saying what's true."

Darcy cleared his throat to get their attention. They both turned to look at him

"Before you decide whether you're going home or not, I have something I need to tell you and then the police when they get here."

Jane and Lizzie exchanged glances, wondering what he could have to say that he would need to tell both of them and the police.

Darcy then proceeded to tell them about how his little sister, Georgiana had been seduced by Wickham and left for dead. He had followed her on a summer expedition to the south of France the year before and while there, had succeeded in wooing her and luring her into thinking that she was in love. But, that wasn't the only thing he had done. He had also convinced her to take drugs and have sex with him. Darcy had happened to decided to give her a surprise visit and had flown down a few weeks before she was supposed to come home.

When he got there, he came upon a situation he never thought he would see. His little sister passed out on the bed with Wickham trying to insinuate himself between her thighs. Darcy had then proceeded to rip Wickham off the bed and quickly cover his sister. He quickly called the police, but before they got there, Wickham managed to get away. He told the police what he had seen and when Georgiana came to, she told them what had happened to her. But, she was adamant in not pressing charges against him.

So, the two of them left France together. And, it was a few weeks later when Darcy had to take Georgiana to the hospital that they both realized she had miscarried. Wickham had gotten her pregnant. When Richard had found out about the situation (since he was her co-guardian), he was livid. He was ready to find him himself and run him through with his antique sword. But, fear of going to jail is what stopped him. That and his love for Georgiana.

Darcy took a breath after divulging that story to them. "Since then, Georgie has been very shy around people and we've had to put her in therapy to cope with all that happened to her."

Jane and Lizzie sat there in silence, shocked at what they had heard.

"You mean to tell me that scumbag treated your little sister that way?" Lizzie asked, wanting to not believe it, but feeling that it was true.

Darcy nodded yes.

"How does he know your family?" Jane asked.

Darcy then told them about Wickham's father and how Darcy's father loved Wickham like a son. But, that Wickham just wanted money, not the love that Mr. Darcy offered him. So, when he was getting his settlement from Mr. Darcy's will, he forfeited any rights he had to the job that was offered to him and left. When he wasn't given any more money or the job, he became bitter, which is why he decided to go after Georgiana. He thought the quickest way to hurt Darcy was through his little sister. And, he was right.

Before their conversation could go any farther, there was a knock on the door. Jane went to answer it and came back in escorting the police. Everyone sat down and listened while Darcy retold his story and Lizzie talked about her connection with him. Once they were finished, the police asked if they knew any other things that might help them find Wickham and Lydia.

"Wickham has a long list of friends in this city. But, there's only one person I can think of that he would go to with something like this. Ms. Younge," Darcy said, giving them her last known address.

The police thanked them and made their way out of the building.

After they left, Darcy, Jane, and Lizzie sat in silence for a while.

"I guess I better do a little shopping. I don't think it'll be a good idea to go home if the police need anymore information," Jane said, moving to her purse.

Lizzie nodded in agreement and made to get up to go with her.

"No, you stay here. You've had a rough 24 hours. Besides, I don't think Darcy would like to be left alone in this apartment."

With that, Jane left the apartment and Lizzie and Darcy to find their own amusement.

**A/N:** Again, sorry for the long delay. But, if I get reviews, that does help me write more quickly than this past time. So…please R&R!


	12. Awkwardness

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I have a special thanks for Natasha Z (if you're reading this). Your review made me very happy when I read it. It quite honestly made my day. And, it's one of the reasons I'm updating now. It has given me the urge to write.

Once Jane left the apartment, Lizzie and Darcy sat in an uncomfortable silence. They weren't really sure if Jane had an ulterior motive in leaving them together or whether she just didn't think about it when she was leaving. So, the two of them sat there, not talking or looking at each other, for a little while.

Eventually, Lizzie got tired of sitting in silence, so she asked Darcy, "Would you like some tea?"

Darcy started. He wasn't expecting her to speak. He cleared his throat before answering in the affirmative. Lizzie gave him a shy smile and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

She was rummaging around in the kitchen getting the things ready when she had a strange sense of déjà vu. She felt as if she had done something like this before. She stopped what she was doing and thought about it. Eventually her mind came to the day before when she and William went on their date.

"_Wait a second_," Lizzie thought. "_Why did I just call Darcy William? I've always called him Darcy._"

"You look perplexed," came Darcy's voice from the doorway.

Lizzie jumped and let out a little shriek. She turned around quickly and put her hand over her heart, as if to quell the quick beat of it.

"Sorry," he said, looking somewhat sheepish. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Lizzie gave him a tremulous smile and took a deep breath. "It's okay," she replied. "You just startled me. I guess I was pretty deep in thought."

Darcy smiled and made his way into the kitchen. "What were you thinking about? If you don't mind me asking."

Lizzie blushed. She wasn't sure if she wanted to answer that question. She averted her eyes from his and started to finish getting the things for tea together. Darcy watched her the entire time, not saying anything.

Once Lizzie finished, he said, "Well?'

"Well what?" Lizzie asked him, hoping he wouldn't remember.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

Lizzie swallowed. "What question was that?" she asked him.

"You know what question I'm talking about," he told her, starting to move towards her.

When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I think you're thinking about yesterday afternoon in this very kitchen. And, that you're wondering whether or not we'll be interrupted like the last time."

Lizzie's eyes were huge. She was desperately trying to figure out if she was that transparent or if he was a psychic. Fortunately, Darcy answered for her. "The only reason I know this is because I was thinking about it myself."

Lizzie let out a nervous laugh. She didn't know what to think. She was thinking flattered because it was obvious he liked her. But, then should she worry that he was having thoughts like that? That could show that he only wanted sex.

Darcy could see the wheels in her head start turning. "No you don't Lizzie."

"What do you mean?"

"You are not going to over analyze this situation," he told her, trapping her against the counter like he had the day before.

"Who said anything about analyzing anything?" she asked, wondering if he was going to try to kiss her again.

She soon found the answer to that question. He started to lean in towards her. He stopped, like he had the day before, asking her permission. When she didn't do anything to stop him, he slowly lowered his head to hers.

But, before they could share their kiss, the kettle on the stove went off, interrupting their interlude. Lizzie jumped, hitting Darcy on the head.

"Oh my God! William! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," he said, rubbing his forehead. "You might want to take that off the stove before the water boils away."

"Right."

Lizzie turned and busied herself with getting the tea ready. She was mortified. She couldn't believe that it had happened again. It seemed like every time they were about to kiss something happened. And, then, she head butted him! She couldn't believe that had actually happened.

She set the tea things on the table in the living room and walked back into the kitchen to get some biscuits to eat with it. When she came back, she saw Darcy calmly pouring the tea.

After they got settled and were sipping their tea, Darcy said thoughtfully, "So, why did you call me by my first name?"

Lizzie almost choked on her tea. She felt like she was making a fool of herself today. Every time something happened she ended up almost embarrassing herself. She breathed a bit to clear up her throat and answered, "Did I? I didn't even realize it."

She hoped that sounded convincing. But, according to the look on his face, it was apparent he didn't.

"Really?" he asked, looking at her thoughtfully.

Lizzie looked at him before answering, "Want the truth?"

He nodded yes.

"I didn't really think about it. Darcy sounds so officious and impersonal. William fits a little better."

He stared at her after she finished. Lizzie didn't know what to think. She started to wonder whether she said something she shouldn't have. Nervously, she started to bite her lip.

Suddenly, Darcy broke out into a smile. Lizzie was stunned. She had seen him smiled before, mostly fleetingly, but this was different. He had such a look of boyish delight on his face that she couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Do you mind calling me William?" he asked her.

"No, I don't. Though, I though you preferred Darcy," she said looking at him confused.

"I do. With my friends and employees mostly. With family or certain _other_ people, I'm William."

Her mouth formed at "o" when she heard the emphasis he put on other. She then blushed furiously. While she was still trying to work out what he meant, he nonchalantly asked, "So, do you think the world has something against us?"

She looked at him weirdly. "What do you mean?"

He looked at her and said, "I was wondering because it seems that every time we get close to kissing, something or someone has to interrupt it. Do you realize that we've tried to kiss three times now and something has always happened to make sure it doesn't happen?'

She nodded her head that she did understand what she was saying.

He continued. "And, to be quite honest, I'm a little tired of it."

Before she could ask what he meant, she heard the key in the door and turned around to see Jane coming back into the apartment.

"Do you need any help Jane?" Lizzie asked putting her teacup and saucer down.

"No!" Jane quickly answered. Then, a little more calmly she answered, "I mean, no. That's not necessary. I've got it handled."

Lizzie looked at her weirdly, trying to figure out why Jane didn't want her to help. She still had a quizzical look on her face when she turned around to meet the mirthful face of Darcy.

"And, just what are you laughing at William?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow and momentarily forgetting about Jane's outburst.

"You don't see it do you?" he asked her, trying to suppress his laugh.

"No, I obviously don't," she answered, becoming irritated since she thought she was missing something important.

"It's quite obvious. She's trying to set us up," he stated matter-of-factly.

Lizzie looked at him like he had grown a third eye.

"No she's not. Jane wouldn't do that."

Darcy just raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you so sure about that?"

When Lizzie still looked like she didn't believe him, he added, "Charles is in on it as well. Their 'stroll,'" he said, using air quotes. "Jane leaving to go grocery shopping when I know for a fact that she went the other day with Charles."

He waited. Eventually it dawned on her that he was right. "But why would they do that?"

Darcy just shrugged, not willing to divulge that much. At that precise moment, Jane walked back into the living room and sat down. "Have you heard anything?"

When she didn't get a response, she looked up from the tea she was preparing for herself to look at Lizzie. "What is that face for Lizzie?"

"What are you and Charles doing trying to set me and William up?"


	13. The Truth Comes Out

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…never will…

Jane looked like a deer caught in headlights. She visibly gulped and tried to finish fixing her tea before answering Lizzie.

"Whatever do you mean Lizzie?" she asked, hoping Lizzie wouldn't hear the quake in her voice.

"You know what I mean Jane," Lizzie told her, her voice brooking no argument.

Jane knew it wasn't worth it to try to deny it. "Lizzie, please don't be mad."

"A little late for that."

"Charles and I could tell that you two liked each other and we were worried that neither of you would do anything about it. That's why we purposefully left you two alone together to try and help speed things up."

Lizzie and William both just stared at her: Lizzie with a look of anger and William with barely controlled mirth. Lizzie glanced at William and exclaimed, "You think this is funny!"

His laughter finally burst forth. "Of course I do," he said when he could talk again. "Charles has never done something like this before. It's obvious your sister has never done something like this before. Besides, it's not like they didn't pick two good subjects. We're both just a bundle of repressed sexual feelings."

Lizzie and Jane both just gaped at him. William just smiled back while he calmly stood up and walked into the kitchen. Lizzie and Jane then exchanged glances.

"Can you believe he just said that?" Jane asked Lizzie in a stage whisper.

Lizzie just shrugged, not sure how to answer her sister. In some ways she could believe that William would say that because it was quite obvious they had some repressed sexual tension between the two of them. But in other ways, she wasn't as sure. She still didn't know him well enough to understand when to take him seriously and when to not.

She was still sitting there mulling over her thoughts when a knock sounded at the door. Jane got up to answer it and a few seconds later Lizzie could hear Jane's excited "Charles!" followed by several disgusting moments of silence for her. She didn't really want to think about why they were both being so quiet, so she stood up and walked into the kitchen.

She found William standing at the sick with his arms in the sick washing dishes.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, not quite believing what she was seeing.

"I'm washing dishes. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well, I know you're washing dishes. What I meant was why?"

"Your dishes needed to be washed and it seemed like you and Jane needed a few minutes with each other."

Lizzie just looked at him. "That still doesn't answer why."

William let out an exasperated sigh. "I just wanted to, okay?"

Lizzie shrugged and added her teacup to the dirty pile. She then grabbed a dry towel and started to towel dry the dishes he had already done and added them to the dish drainer. They spent several moments in companionable silence.

"Where's Jane?" he asked.

"You probably don't want to know," was her response.

"Why?"

"Charles is here."

"Ah. You're probably right then," he said with a sheepish grin.

They each then tried to not think about what the other two people might or might not be doing at that particular moment. But what neither of them realized was that Jane and Charles were not that agreeably engaged. They had walked into the living room a little while after Lizzie had left it and had a quick cup of tea. They had then gone to the kitchen when they heard voices, but decided to not interrupt the two of them when they saw how well they were getting on together. They also figured that the two of them had suffered enough interruptions for one day. So they had slipped back out of the kitchen and into Jane's room to give them some privacy.

William and Lizzie continued to wash the dishes and were finished a few minutes later. Once Lizzie didn't have any other dishes to dry, she started to fiddle with the towel nervously. William remained oblivious to all this as he continued to finish getting the last of the suds out of the sink until he heard Lizzie release an almost imperceptible sigh.

"Are you okay Lizzie?" he asked her, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about Lydia, that's all," Lizzie said, not being completely honest with him. She was worried about Lydia, but she was also wondering whether she and William would ever have the chance to kiss or something of that sort without having someone or something happen to interrupt them.

William looked at her as she was thinking and could tell that she wasn't being completely honest. He let a devilish grin break across his face as he thought of something.

He put his cloth down and dried his hands. He then took his forefinger and placed it on the cheek farthest away from him and turned her head so he was looking in her eyes.

"You are not being completely honest with me are you?" he asked her, slowly starting to lower his head, pausing when he was halfway there.

Lizzie visibly gulped and said "No" in a husky voice.

"I didn't think so," William continued as his head started its descent again.

He paused right before his lips touched hers, making sure she was okay with this. Looking in her eyes and seeing that she didn't mind, he closed the distance between them and lightly touched his lips to hers. He pulled back slightly to see her reaction and saw that she still had her head tilted up and her eyes closed as if he was still kissing her.

Thus, he took advantage and kissed her again. A little more forcefully this time. He brought his other hand up to cup her cheek while his other one crept into her hair. William lightly ran the tip of his tongue against her lips, requesting admittance, which she readily granted.

As their tongues started to acquaint themselves with one another, Lizzie let her hands start to explore his back, tracing the contours. They eventually ended up around his neck bringing him closer to her and increasing the pressure of their kiss.

Since they were so agreeably engaged they didn't realize that William's cell phone was ringing at first. Eventually the sound worked its way into William's conscience and he broke the kiss to pat his pockets trying to find it. He looked at her apologetically as he answered it.

"Darcy here."

William listened for a few moments, his face getting grimmer with each passing second.

"That's exactly what he said? Have you contacted the police?"

William unconsciously started to rub his temples as be began to feel the beginnings of a headache start.

"Ok. Tell them where I am. I talked to them this morning. Also, give them a copy of what he sent you."

William sighed as he hung the phone up. "That was my secretary. Wickham has contacted me with a ransom statement."

"What?!" Lizzie said, not quite believing him. But William didn't hear her since he was already walking into the living room, calling Charles as he went.

Charles came running down the hall when he heard William's voice. It was the voice he used only when something really bad had happened.

"What is it Darcy?"

"Wickham contacted me asking for ransom for Lydia. Beth wouldn't tell me all about it over the phone, but she said that the police would talk to me when they got here. She gave them a copy of it."

Charles looked stunned. "He contacted you? But why?"

William then filled him in on what had happened the previous night since it was obvious that he didn't know about it. Charles was dumbfounded when he heard about it. They were both brought out of their conversation when they heard Lizzie ask, "What are you going to do?"

William turned to look at her. "I honestly don't know. I'm definitely willing to pay whatever is necessary to make sure your sister is safe, but I also know Wickham isn't to be trusted."

Lizzie nodded with what he was saying. "If you do pay the ransom, tell me how much it is and I'll pay you back. You shouldn't have to pay for my sister."

"No," William said, shaking his head. "You won't be doing that. It's something I feel I should do. I should have forced Georgiana to press charges or tried to press them myself, but I didn't want a scandal. Look where that got us."

"But I knew about him as well. I dated him and knew what type of person he was but decided to not tell my family the truth about why the two of us broke up. If I had told them about it then Lydia and my family would have known to be careful around him."

"Lizzie—" William started before Jane interrupted him. "It won't do either of you any good to stand here and argue about who's more to blame. The fact is that George got our little sister and he wants money. We have to figure out how to get Lydia safe and George behind bars."

Charles beamed when he heard Jane make that speech. Before anyone could make a response though, there was a knock at the door. Since Lizzie was the closest, she walked over and looked in the peephole. She saw that it was the same police officers from the morning and opened the door to let them in. Everyone then went to the living room to talk about the latest developments.


	14. Best Made Plans

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing…

When everyone had settled into the living room, the two policemen looked at each other and then the taller one, Colonel Sanderson, started, "We have a copy of what Wickham sent to your office Mr. Darcy."

Once Sanderson said that, he handed the copy to William, who looked at it and drew in a quick breath. Before he could stop her, Elizabeth grabbed it to look and immediately grew very pale. Wickham had taken a picture of Lydia, who was tied to the bed and unconscious. She was without clothes, but it looked like she hadn't been harmed. The only doubt was whether she was asleep or if Wickham had knocked her out.

Elizabeth quickly handed the sheet back to the officers so Jane wouldn't see it. She knew that Jane wouldn't be able to handle it.

"What are we going to do?" she asked once she handed it back.

The officers then went on to detail the rest of the packet that Wickham had sent. As far as they knew Wickham didn't know that they knew about the ransom note because the secretary called Sanderson on his cell and said that there was a package at the office that needed to be taken to Mr. Darcy right away. So they had picked it up in plainclothes and brought it to Lizzie and Jane's apartment after opening it in the privacy of William's office.

The officers and their superiors were going to set up a sting operation for the location and time that Wickham indicated for the pick-up. They would suit William in Kevlar to make sure he wasn't seriously injured if Wickham had a gun and decided to shoot him. They already had plainclothes policemen there scouting the area to find out where he might hide accomplices and for them to find the best cover points.

Once the meeting was over, the officers took their leave and left the other four to their own devices.

"Lizzie, what was on that sheet?" Jane asked a few minutes after the officers had left.

Lizzie looked at William who shook his head. "Jane, dear, you really don't want to know."

"Why are you keeping this from me?"

Lizzie didn't really want to answer that question because she knew that it would upset Jane to know it was that bad. Although, Jane was already upset, so it didn't matter that much. Lizzie glanced over to where William had taken Charles to tell him what was on the sheet. She noticed that Charles looked a lot paler than he normally did and that he kept sending quick, furtive glances at Jane. Charles nodded to what William said and made his way over to where Jane was seated. He leaned down to whisper something in her ear and then pulled her to her feet and they both made their way to the door. After they had left, William and Lizzie were once again alone.

"What did you tell Charles?" Lizzie asked him.

"I told him what was on the sheet and asked him to use his discretion in what and how he told her."

Lizzie nodded. She wasn't sure how she felt about William telling Charles what to tell her sister. If anyone told Jane, she felt like it should be her, not Charles, because she was her sister. Lizzie stood up and walked down the hall to her room where she sat down in front of her easel and looked at her latest sketches for an upcoming book.

She was just confused. She knew she should be grateful to William for what he was doing; after all, he was the person that was contacted. But she couldn't shake the feeling that he was putting his nose where it didn't belong. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear him come into the room and jumped when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry," he said, jerking his hand back as if he had been burned.

"It's fine. I just didn't hear you come in," Lizzie said, trying to smile and failing. "You can sit down," she told him, gesturing towards the chairs she had scattered and her bed.

William decided to sit in a saucer chair next to her and made to sit down. However, he misjudged the distance and ended up falling none too gracefully into it instead. Lizzie tried to stifle her laughter when she saw what happened. William shot her a look as he adjusted himself and sat down the right way.

"So do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" he asked once her laughter died down.

Lizzie immediately sobered up. "What do you mean?"

"Don't try and avoid the subject Elizabeth. It's obvious something is bothering you, so fess up."

Lizzie started to nervously fidget with her pencils. He was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to tell him what was on her mind. William reached over and put his hand on top of hers, making her stop and look at him.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" she said, not quite understanding.

"I said 'I'm sorry.'"

"I know that. But why?"

William took a deep breath. "I think the reason you're upset is because I kind of took control of the situation out there and told Charles to do something without asking you about it first since it involved your sister. And for that I am sorry."

Lizzie blinked and stared at him, not believing what he was saying. How was it that he always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking?

"It's fine. I mean, I am upset, but I also understand that it kind of is your place since he did contact you, which I don't understand."

William thought about what she said and then stated, "He probably contacted me because he knows that I'll pay it no matter what and he knows that I'm worth millions of dollars. If he had contacted you, he would have asked for a much lower sum because he wouldn't be as certain as to whether you could pay him or not. At least, I think that's why he contacted me."

Lizzie just nodded, seeing his reasoning. William took Lizzie's hand, which he was still holding, and brought it to his lips to place a soft kiss on it.

"It'll be okay, you'll see," he told her, trying to reassure her as much as himself. Because as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was worried. He didn't know how Wickham managed to get out of jail or how he was able to get his hands onto Lydia, but he'd never pulled something of this magnitude off before. So that meant that he had some help and he didn't know who it was. So he was worried.

---------------------------------------------------------

Charles breathed in a deep breath when he and Jane got outside. He gently took her hand and started to walk towards a park in the neighborhood. Jane tried several times to start a conversation, but Charles wouldn't let it continue.

Once they reached the park, he walked them over to a bench where he proceeded to sit down, pulling Jane to sit beside him. He sat in silence for a little while after they sat down, thinking about the best things to tell Jane and the best way to tell her what he was going to tell her.

He took a deep breath and started to tell her what happened. Everything. Even the things that Elizabeth didn't want to tell her. He thought she deserved to know. Once he finished his tale, they sat in silence for a little while.

Eventually Jane asked Charles what was going to happen. He responded that he didn't know, but that he knew that if it was in William's power to fix it, he would.

---------------------------------------------------------

After Charles and Jane had been gone for a little while, the phone in the apartment rang. Lizzie got up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"LIZZIE!! WE ARE RUINED!!" her mother yelled through the phone as soon as Lizzie answered it.

"Whatever do you mean Mother?" Lizzie asked her, already exasperated with the day and this phone call only adding to her feelings.

"LYDIA OF COURSE!!! SHE HAS BEEN TAKEN BY THAT HORRIBLE WICKHAM (I don't know what you ever saw in him) AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS TO BECOME OF US. THINK OF THE SCANDAL!!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Mom, this isn't the Regency period. As far we know, she was kidnapped, which means it is not her fault. Unless she went willingly. At which point it wouldn't be kidnapping really. So her 'reputation' won't be ruined," Lizzie stated, muttering "not that it isn't already in tatters" under her breath.

Mrs. Bennet continued on her tirade with Lizzie trying to speak some reason to her for quite a while. Eventually Lizzie told her mother that they had to go because they were expecting a call from the police.

But before Lizzie could get away from her mother, she asked Lizzie when she and Jane were coming home to comfort her.

"Mother, it's not smart for us to go home. If we aren't in the city, the police really don't have a way of meeting us face to face. It's really not smart for us to go home since it's three hours away. Jane and I have decided to stay here to kind of act as 'home base.'"

This set Lizzie's mom off again. Lizzie held the phone away from her ear so she wouldn't catch the full blast and rubbed her temples. All her mother's yelling was giving her quite the headache.

After a few more minutes of listening, she was able to tell her mother bye and thankfully hang the phone up. Lizzie let out the deep breath that she hadn't realized she was holding and turned to face William, who had an interesting look on his face.

"Is your mother always like that?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Although, usually she's much less…effusive."

William nodded, still not quite believing the conversation he had just witnessed. Even when Lizzie's mother wasn't yelling, he could perfectly understand what she was saying. And what she said bothered him. Especially that bit about Jane and Lizzie coming home to comfort her. William obviously couldn't say this out loud, but their mother seemed to be a bit unfeeling for others and very selfish.

William followed Lizzie into the living room and when he walked in he saw that Charles and Jane had returned and that Jane and Lizzie were embracing. He felt a little awkward standing there and went to stand beside Charles, who told him what he had told Jane. A few moments later, Lizzie and Jane walked down the hall to Jane's room and shut the door.

William and Charles looked at each other and decided it might be a good idea for them to go on and leave. William stated that it would be a good idea for them to leave a note, so they wrote one and left it by the phone so they would see it. With that done, they both gathered their things and quietly let themselves out of the apartment, making sure the door was locked so no one could get inside.


	15. I've Just Seen A Face

**Disclaimer:** I really don't think I have to say this anymore…but I don't own it…

Jane and Lizzie sat in Jane's room for a few hours talking and crying with each other about the whole Lydia situation. They were both upset because it was their little sister and they honestly didn't know whether she was kidnapped or if she went willingly.

Once they had finished talking, they ventured out of the room. When they walked into the living room, they saw the note that William and Charles had left them, which read

_Jane and Lizzie_

_Charles and I decided to leave since you two needed a chance to talk to each other about everything. When you two are ready, give one of us a call. We'll be together the rest of the day and we'll come back over._

_William_

Jane set the note back down and looked wretched. "I completely forgot about them when we went to my room!"

"I think they understood Jane," Lizzie said dryly, shaking her head a bit at Jane. "So are we going to call them?"

"Oh yes!" Jane said quickly. She grabbed the phone and dialed Charles' number. They had a brief conversation and once they finished, Jane informed Lizzie that they were stopping to get food for the four of them and then they were coming over.

Lizzie nodded her head and wandered back to her room. She hadn't done a lot of writing lately and all the events of the day were wearing on her, so she decided to try and work a bit to relieve some of her tension. Though when she sat down to get some things on paper, nothing would come.

She sat there for a little while trying to think of something and when she couldn't she started to draw. Lizzie wasn't even aware of what she was drawing or how long she had been in her room until someone cleared their throat behind her. She jerked and was thankful that her pencil wasn't on the paper anymore because her drawing would have been ruined.

She looked behind her and saw William standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, coming to stand behind her so he could peer over her shoulder.

"I was just drawing," she told her, turning back around to look at her drawing. She gasped when she saw what it was she had drawn. It was William from their date the other night.

She was about to try and hide it, but she heard his intake of breath and knew that he had already seen it.

"Is that me?" he asked her in a strangled voice.

Lizzie could only nod, not trusting her voice. She was mortified. She had drawn him without realizing it and then he had seen it. Lizzie was scared at what William was going to say.

When he didn't say anything for a little while, she glanced at him and saw that he had leveled his stare at her. She looked at him more fully, but was unable to read the expression in his eyes. Since she wasn't sure what he thought, she tried to discreetly push the paper underneath some drawings that were on her desk.

William suddenly reached out and stopped her hand. He then took his other hand and pulled the sheet from under her hand to get a better look at it. Lizzie bit her lip when she saw him take the sheet from her. She then glanced down at his hand, which he still hadn't removed from hers.

She then looked at him and saw him staring at her. "This is amazing."

She blushed and said, "You're just saying that because it's you."

"No, I'm not. This is an amazing drawing. I now see why people like your books for the drawings as well as its literary merit."

If it was possible, Lizzie blushed an even deeper shade of red. William handed the drawing back to her and watched her stick it into a pile of papers. When she turned around, he gently squeezed her hand and intertwined their fingers.

"How are you doing?" he asked her.

Lizzie shrugged and said, "As well as can be expected with a sister missing and not knowing whether she went willingly or if she was forced to leave."

William raised her hand to his lips and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure everything will work out."

Lizzie wished she could believe him, but he didn't know Lydia the way she did. She had an inkling that her sister may have gone willingly and was actually in on the plan because for the duration of her and George's relationship Lydia practically threw herself at him. In fact, it wouldn't surprise Lizzie to find out that him and Lydia had actually had an affair while she was dating George.

She felt William put a finger under her chin and raise her face so she was looking him in the eyes. "None of those depressing thoughts now," he told her smiling.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it. I can't think of anything to get my mind off of this, so it's constantly on my mind."

William smiled wolfishly. "I can think of something," he said, leaning in.

Lizzie eyes got round. She knew exactly what he was thinking of. In fact, she had been thinking about it as well. She swallowed and unwittingly wet her lips.

William saw her tongue dart out and he was lost. He pulled her to him quickly and pressed his lips to hers. Lizzie was so startled that she didn't do anything for a few seconds, but once she recovered from her shock, she responded back with equal fervor.

They were agreeably engaged when Lizzie realized that William couldn't possibly be comfortable in the chair he was sitting in. So she broke the kiss off. A pout crossed William's face and Lizzie had to stifle her laughter.

"You can't be comfortable," she told him gesturing towards how he was sitting.

"You're right. It's really not," he told her, standing up and picking her up out of her chair. He walked over to the couch that she was pushed up against the wall and sat down, placing her on his lap.

"Better?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow at his forwardness.

"Much," he said as he pulled her in for another scorching kiss. William pushed the tip of his tongue against her lips gently, requesting admittance. Lizzie opened her lips immediately and William set about reacquainting himself with her. As their tongues dueled, Lizzie had wound her arms around William's neck and had her fingers buried in his hair. William's hands had worked their way around her waist, pulling her even closer to him.

They spent some minutes in this pose until William started to break the kiss off and make it gentler, not as passionate. When they finally parted, William leaned his forehead against hers, both of them trying to catch their breath.

"Wow," Lizzie said a few minutes later when she had herself somewhat under control again.

"Yeah, wow," William echoed.

They sat in that pose for a few more moments and then William leaned up and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"We should go join Charles and Jane," William said, loosening his hold on her.

Lizzie nodded and got up off his lap, trying to straighten her clothes out and fix her hair. William stood as well and attempted to do the same thing. They realized they were doing the same thing and laughed at each other and themselves. William leaned down and placed a quick peck on her lips and then led the way out of her room and into the living room.

When they walked in, Charles and Jane were no where in sight. William was about to say something when he heard muffled voices coming from down the hall and saw the door to Jane's room open and them both coming out looking a little ruffled.

They both stopped when they saw William and Lizzie standing there looking at them. They both also blushed a very bright red. Jane hurried down the hall and into the kitchen, not meeting Lizzie's eyes. Charles walked at a little bit of a slower pace, looking very much like a little boy that was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. When he looked up, he met William's face and saw that he had an eyebrow raised.

"What?" Charles asked trying to be nonchalant. William just shook his head.

"Dinner is ready," Jane called from the kitchen. Charles walked ahead of William and Lizzie and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Do you believe that they weren't doing something?" Lizzie asked him before starting to walk towards the kitchen.

"No, but if he wants to act like nothing happened, then let him. Jane was obviously uncomfortable with the thought of the two of us knowing that they might have been doing something," William said, smirking.

Lizzie just shrugged and walked into the kitchen, William close on her heels.


	16. Getting Ready

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

Lizzie, Jane, William, and Charles spent a few days being on edge. William had the funds together. Now the only thing they were awaiting was the designated drop day, which was the next day. So today was spent in tense anticipation.

Thankfully Mrs. Bennet didn't know about the ransom otherwise they would have a more hysterical woman on their hands and that was something they didn't need. As it was, Jane and Lizzie had taken to not answering their phone and letting their voicemail pick it up. Mrs. Bennet had taken to call at all hours of the day to bemoan the family's fate and they had gotten tired of it.

Mrs. Bennet also seems to have realized that they weren't taking her calls and her messages had increased in animosity until she was practically screaming in each message. It seems that almost all of Meryton, where they were from, had stopped listening to her long ago because they were tired of her harping. And, it seemed as if Jane and Lizzie were her last resort of sympathy and even that had run dry.

Lizzie and Jane were actually half expecting her to show up on their doorstep any second to stay with them and bother them until Lydia was found or showed back up. But they were thankful that their father at least had that much control over her because he realized what was really going on with the whole Lydia situation. Hence the reason (they hoped) for why she hadn't shown up with a years worth of clothes to bother them.

As it was, they were stressed enough already thinking about what the next day would bring. It had already been decided that the guys would stay at the apartment since it was pretty close to the drop off point and it would be easier for everyone to operate from there than from a remote location.

The night wound down and Charles and Jane left Lizzie and William in the living room. The twos of them sat there in an uncomfortable silence for a little while, neither of them knowing what to say. Lizzie wanted to ask him to stay with her in her room while not seeming to be way too forward and William was trying to think of a way to not make her so uncomfortable with the situation.

"Where are the blankets for the couch?" William asked after a few minutes.

As soon as he said that, he noticed Lizzie's face dropping. It was pretty apparent she was hoping he would want to stay with her.

"Oh, um…I'll go get them for you out of the linen closet," she told him, standing up.

But before she could move away, he grabbed her hand and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about tomorrow," she lied. What she was really thinking about was of ways to get William to at least stay in the same room as her.

"You big liar. That is not what you're thinking about."

Lizzie glared. She really hated how he seemed to know what she was thinking at all times.

"Well then all knowing one, what am I thinking?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

William stood up and made his way over to her. "I think that you want me to not stay on the couch."

He stopped a few feet away from her and smirked. He didn't go so far as to say she wanted him to spend the night in her room because he wanted her to admit it. Lizzie huffed and turned to make her way to her room. William just stared after her. He had thought that he had her pegged, but it seemed like her didn't. He shrugged and turned to make his way to the couch. He was stopped during his first step when he hear her call from her room, "Are you coming or not?"

William grinned as he made his way to her room.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day dawned bright. Lizzie woke up and opened her eyes to see William staring at her. "Morning sleepy head," he told her, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"I'm technically not a sleepy-head," she said in her gravelly voice. "It's still quite early."

William laughed at her logic. "I guess you're right."

William got out of the bed and made his way over to his bag to get his shaving kit. Lizzie rolled over and propped her head on her hand to watch him. She giggled when she saw the pajama pants that he had on. It was covered in the Liverpool Football Club logo and had the lyrics to their song on it.

William turned around and looked at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"Your pants," she said, laughing harder.

"Do you have a problem with my pants?" he asked her, trying to sound haughty.

This only caused her to laugh harder. A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and Charles and Jane came into the room to see what Lizzie's laughter was about. They stopped short when they arrived in the doorway and saw Lizzie sitting in her bed (which obviously had another person sleep in it besides her) and William standing across the room in his pajamas.

"Are you two okay?" Charles asked, not quite sure what he should be asking.

This only caused the two of them to laugh harder. Charles and Jane looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well then," Jane started, "I guess I'll go cook breakfast and then Charles can go meet Wickham."

It was low and Jane knew it. As did every other person in the room. After she said that, William and Lizzie immediately stopped laughing. William got his kit and made his way to the bathroom and Lizzie stood up and started to tidy her bed up. Charles watched Jane walk down the hall and then turned to Lizzie.

"Sorry. I guess she's a little more worried than she's let on," Charles said, not quite sure whether he should be apologizing for not.

"It's okay Charles. I was just laughing at his pants. Besides, he needed a laugh this morning since he's the one that is going to meet Wickham. I know this isn't easy for him."

Charles nodded. "You're right. He's been working himself so hard that I was scared he wasn't going to try and relax at some point."

"In the short amount of time that I've known him, he isn't one to relax ever when there's something on his mind. Which is almost constant."

Charles nodded that he understood. They both then heard William packing his stuff up in the bathroom and Charles said he was going to the kitchen and left the room right before William walked in.

William dropped his stuff into his bag and turned to help Lizzie finish with her bed.

"You don't have to help me."

"But I want to," was his reply.

They finished making the bed in silence and then they both made their way to the kitchen. Everyone ate breakfast in silence, their thoughts all consumed with the same thing: the drop off later that day.

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William finished putting his Kevlar on and picked up his briefcase that held the money. An officer finished checking his wire to make sure it worked and William was ready to go. Charles came up to William and clapped him on the back. Jane looked like she might cry and Lizzie looked worried.

"You all look like I'm going to my funeral," William said, trying to crack a smile.

"That comment isn't appreciated Darcy," Charles said.

William looked sheepish after Charles comment. Jane came up quickly and hugged William while telling him good luck and then went down the hall to her room. Charles clapped William on the back again and followed Jane down the hall.

William and Lizzie watched the officers leave the apartment to go to the apartment they had gotten for the day to act as home base. When the door closed behind the last officer, Lizzie practically threw herself at William.

William let out a breath of air as she hit him. His arms came around to hold her. He placed a light kiss on her head and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

He said it to reassure her as much to reassure himself. He pulled back some and tilted her head up to his. William placed a soft kiss on her lips and whispered, "I'll be back before you know it."

With that, he released her and left the apartment. Lizzie stood there looking at the door a long time after he left and then slowly made her way to her room.


	17. Many Different Things

**Disclaimer:** Do I really have to keep doing these? Don't own it…

William took a deep breath as he stepped from his car which was parked a few blocks from the drop off point. He walked the short distance from his car to the park. A quick scan revealed that Wickham wasn't anywhere in the park and that the plainclothes that he knew about were in place.

He slowly strolled to the park bench where he was supposed to wait and sat down. William didn't have to wait long to see Wickham coming towards him with Lydia on his arm. When they got close enough, Wickham directed Lydia to a bench that wasn't too far off: close enough to get to her if she tried anything but far enough away that she wouldn't hear any of the conversation.

Wickham came and sat down next to him. "You're always one to agree to anything aren't you?" was Wickham's greeting.

William decided to not dignify it with a response and instead asked, "You haven't hurt her have you?"

"No. She's too annoying for me to consider doing anything to her that I might normally consider doing with someone her age."

William suppressed the shudder that went through his body as he thought about exactly what Wickham had done to other young girls. William slid the suitcase over to Wickham and watched him open the case and pilfer through the stacks of cash.

William held his breath. The bills were counterfeit and the police had provided them. William was hoping that Wickham wouldn't notice they were counterfeit. After a few more minutes of rifling, Wickham snapped the case closed. He stood and offered his hand for William to shake. William just stared at it.

Instead of shaking it, he asked, "Why did you kidnap Lydia?"

"Simple. I wanted to get back at you. I knew you would never go to the police about me and what I did to your precious Georgiana. And I knew that you cared deeply about Elizabeth from that night I came across the two of you. So I went for her younger sister. I did have plans for Lydia, but as I said, she is way too annoying for my tastes. I couldn't even get it up to attempt to do anything with her voice."

William didn't even bother trying to stop his look of disgust.

"We're done here Wickham." With that, William strode over to where Lydia was and started to talk to her. He could see that she was pretty shaken up. William then glanced up and watched Wickham make his way out of the park only to be stopped by the police who confiscated the briefcase and read him his rights for the kidnapping of Lydia Bennet.

The police then came over to collect Lydia so they could get her statement. It turns out that Lydia and George did have a brief affair while he was still dating Lizzie, but it had ended pretty soon after his relationship with Lizzie ended. Lydia then hadn't seen him for a while until he showed up on her doorstep the day after he broke out of jail. It was then that he took her and put her in captivity.

Lydia explained that she had always liked George Wickham, but shortly after he broke up with Lizzie and before the two of them ended their relationship, she started to suspect that he wasn't faithful. It wasn't until she caught him on a date with some other girl when he was supposed to be working that she found out the truth. It was shortly after that that the two of them had ended their affair.

The police thanked her for her statement and said that they would be in touch. William then guided Lydia to his car so he could drive her to Lizzie and Jane's apartment.

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When Lydia and William got back to the apartment, Jane and Lizzie crushed Lydia into a hug, who immediately burst into tears. Jane walked Lydia down the hall to her bedroom to get her to lie down and rest. Charles followed Jane down the hall to see if she needed any help.

Lizzie looked at William and William opened his arms to her, which she immediately took advantage of. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I was so worried!"

William hugged her to him and kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay. They got him. When Jane and Charles come back out I'll tell the three of you what happened."

William and Lizzie went to sit down on the couch and wait for Jane and Charles to come out of Jane's room. A few minutes later, they entered and sat down on a love seat.

"Well," Charles started, "what happened?"

William took a deep breath and started his tale, leaving nothing out. The other three were shocked when they heard that William was using counterfeit bills and not real money. They were even more shocked to learn about Lydia's statement.

The four of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Eventually Lizzie broke the silence by asking, "Who should tell our mother? And how much should we tell her?"

"I think that we should tell her Lydia was found and Wickham was taken into custody, but nothing else. It won't do any good for her to know all the particulars," Jane said.

Lizzie, along with William and Charles, nodded in agreement. "Do you think we should call her together?" Lizzie asked.

"That might be a good idea. We can go into your room to do it Lizzie."

Lizzie and Jane then stood up to get the phone. They told the guys they could stay and wait if they wanted to, but with their mother they could be a while. William and Charles watched the two women walk towards Lizzie's room and shut themselves in it and settled themselves down to wait.

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It didn't really take as long as the girls thought it would to talk to their parents about what had happened. They knew that their mother would profess major amounts of joy over the fact that Lydia had been found and wouldn't really ask questions, but their father was different. They could tell over the phone line that he was curious and knew that he knew that wasn't the entire story.

Luckily enough, Mr. Bennet was wise enough to not ask right then and succeeded in getting their mother off the phone in about thirty minutes. After hanging up, Lizzie and Jane each released a breath. They were both happy that it was over and surprised it had gone as well as it had.

They walked out of Lizzie's room and into Jane's to check on Lydia. They opened the door a crack and peeked in at Lydia. They saw that she was still on the bed asleep, so they didn't bother waking her. After they shut the door quietly after themselves, they made their way back to the living room and stopped when they saw the scene before them. William and Charles had dozed off and had somehow found themselves in the position of almost hugging each other and propping the other one up. It was quite comical.

Lizzie dashed back to her room and emerged with her digital camera. She had turned it on in her room so it wouldn't make any noise before the picture was taken. Lizzie and Jane crept around to the front of the couch that the two men were sprawled on and stood in front of them adjusting the picture size.

Lizzie and Jane confirmed that it was a good zoom amount and Lizzie hit the shutter button. The camera went off and a bright flash filled the room, waking William and Charles. They both blinked rapidly and then they looked at the two girls who had yet to realize the two of them were up.

William and Charles stood up and made their way over to the women and glanced over their shoulders at the picture that had been taken of them.

"What's that?" Charles asked startling Jane and Lizzie.

Lizzie clutched the camera to her chest and while blushing furiously said, "It's nothing."

William quirked an eyebrow at Lizzie clearly stating that he didn't believe her.

"If it's nothing, then you won't mind Charles and me taking a look at it."

Lizzie and Jane's eyes got huge. William then made to grab for the camera and Lizzie dodged him. He then started to chase her around the room. They were so preoccupied that they didn't notice Jane and Charles slip down the hall to Jane's room and then reemerge a few minutes later with a barely lucid Lydia and leave the apartment.

While Lizzie was dodging William, she happened to notice that Jane and Charles were missing and put a table between the two of them to ask if he knew anything about it. William happened to spy a sheet of paper and read it, stating that Jane, Charles, and Lydia had gone back to Charles' place for the night.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow at William and said, "Really?"

William just grinned and said, "Don't think this has distracted me from my goal of seeing what is on that camera."

Lizzie squealed when William suddenly lunged for her and just narrowly avoided being caught. She ran down the hall and into her room. But before she could get the door shut William was there and was able to slip in through the crack. Lizzie slowly backed across the room as William advanced on her.

When her back hit the wall Lizzie tried to press herself into it as far as she could. William continued to advance and stopped when their bodies were almost touching. He grabbed the hand that held the camera and pried it from her fingers. But instead of looking at the picture like Lizzie thought he would he dropped it to the floor and put his hands on either side of her head.

William then leaned in and placed a scorching kiss on Lizzie's lips. Once the kiss was initiated, it's pretty safe to say that words weren't used very much for a very long time.


	18. Things Aren't What They Seem

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it.

Lizzie woke up feeling strangely bereft. She opened her eyes and thought for a moment. Then she realized that William wasn't in the bed with her. She rolled over and looked at the indention in the pillow where William slept. Lizzie took one of her hands and put it on the place where he had been and noticed that it was cool. That meant he had been gone for a while.

Lizzie sat up, hugging the sheet to her chest and looked around the room. She noticed William's bag in the same place, so he hadn't left. But she couldn't figure out where he had gone. Just then William walked into the room and almost laughed at the look on Lizzie's face. She looked like a little kid that had just had their favorite toy taken away from them.

Lizzie gasped when she saw William walk into the room and put his shaving kit down.

"Did you miss me?" William asked cheekily.

Lizzie likely swatted his arm. "I thought you had left!"

"Why would I leave when I have you here?" he asked leaning in for a kiss.

Lizzie let him kiss her and reveled in the feeling. She wrapped her arms around his neck trying to deepen the kiss. But William wouldn't let her.

"I would love to stay here in bed with you, but I have to go. I need to get to work and I want to call the police to see what needs to be done with the whole Wickham situation."

Lizzie nodded that she understood. She reached over the edge of her bed and grabbed her robe. After putting it on, she rose from the bed and walked over to where William was standing. She wrapped her arms around his waist when he turned around and buried her head in his shoulder.

"At the risk of sounding incredibly cliché, last night was amazing," William whispered in her ear.

Lizzie blushed thinking about the night before. It had definitely been one of her favorite nights ever and loved knowing that William felt the same way. William reluctantly let go of her waist to grab his bad.

After picking it up, he grabbed her hand and made his way to the door. He paused when he reached it and leaned down to place a kiss on Lizzie's lips.

"Are you free for dinner?" he whispered in between kisses.

"Yes," she breathlessly replied.

"Good. Dress casual. I'll call when I'm on my way."

With that William let himself out of her apartment and made his way to the elevator. Lizzie watched him until the doors closed behind him and then made her way to the front window to watch him as he left. It was slightly stalkerish to watch him in this way, but she just wanted to remember everything about this morning and last night.

After he had disappeared around the corner Lizzie turned from the window and set about getting herself ready for the day.

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Lizzie had just finished getting dressed when she heard the door to the apartment open and close. She walked into the living room to see Jane putting her stuff down.

"Where's Lydia?" Lizzie asked her.

"She's at the police station giving a more detailed account of what happened. I couldn't go back with her, so they told me to go on and come home. They said they'd call when they were wrapping up since they would be taking such a long time."

Lizzie nodded in understanding. Once Jane divested herself of her things she turned to Lizzie and said, "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked, clearly confused.

"When me and Charles came into your room while you and William were goofing off and saying what I did. I was just stressed and I should have known that people handle things differently. William needed to laugh and you were doing that for him and I acted irrationally."

Lizzie stared at Jane in shock. She honestly couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. "Jane, it's okay. We all realized that you were worried and stressed. That automatically makes whatever comes out of your mouth to be taken with a grain of salt."

"Lizzie, really. I shouldn't have said it. Just accept my apology so I feel better."

Lizzie nodded because she could tell it wouldn't do any good to argue with Jane about it. Jane smiled and made her way down the hall to her room to put her stuff away again. Lizzie watched her go, thinking about a lot of things.

She shook her head to clear it and made her way to her room to gather her mock-ups. She had a meeting with her editor in a little while and needed to get her stuff together so she wouldn't be late.

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Jane sat on her bed for a long time after Lizzie left just thinking. The turmoil of the last week had wrecked havoc upon her emotions. Going from happiness to wonder at Lizzie and Darcy to worry over Lydia to irrational anger over Lizzie and Darcy to relief at finding William to guilt over her emotions and some of the things she had said.

"_But,"_ she thought to herself, _"Everyone is entitled to have their off days."_

With that in mind, she set about putting her stuff away and calling their parents to tell them she would be bringing Lydia back the next day.

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Lizzie trudged up the stairs to her apartment, exhausted after her meeting with her editor. She opened the door and went immediately to her room and dumped her things on the floor. As she was turning her lights on and putting her stuff away, Jane walked in and said, "Lydia just got back a little while ago. She's pretty shaken up about the ordeal still and the police offered the services of one of their psychologists, which I politely refused asking that they refer her to one in Meryton instead."

Lizzie nodded not making a response. Jane continued, "I'm taking her back tomorrow if you want to ride with me."

"No thanks. I have to reword some of my stuff for my meeting the next day."

Jane nodded that she understood and said, "What do you want for dinner? Lydia said that she's up for anything."

"I'm not going to be here for dinner," Lizzie told her absentmindedly as she straightened her drawings out.

"Why won't you be here for dinner?" Jane asked her in a somewhat tight voice that Lizzie didn't notice.

"William is coming by to get me in a little while and we're going to spend the evening together," Lizzie told her dismissively.

Saying that made Lizzie realize that she needed to get ready since she didn't know what time William was going to pick her up. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out her favorite pair of jeans and started to look at tops. Lizzie was a little torn. She didn't want to look too dressed down but at the same time she didn't want to look too dressed up.

"_So many choices,"_ she thought to herself.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Jane's question and had to ask her to repeat it.

"I asked when you made these plans."

Lizzie stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Jane. It was obvious that Jane was upset but Lizzie couldn't fathom what it was about.

"William asked me this morning before he left," Lizzie stated slowly.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Why does it matter? Why are you so upset about it?" Lizzie asked her, thoroughly confused now.

"Our sister, the one who was kidnapped in case you don't remember, is in the other room and she needs to be around her family. But she can't be around her family because you're too busy shagging your boyfriend and spending all your time with him to notice!"

Lizzie raised her eyebrows at this exclamation. She then took a deep breath to calm herself.

"First off, I would have spent last night with her except for the tiny fact that you and Charles took her to his apartment thus depriving me of her wonderful companionship. Secondly, in case you haven't noticed, she doesn't really want to be around anyone right now. I haven't seen her today because she's in your room and I imagine she spend most of last night in her room in Charles' apartment. Thirdly, it's my life. I don't have to consult you to make plans. If you had mentioned to me earlier today I would have broken my plans with William to stay with the two of you. But you didn't and my plans are already set," Lizzie said quickly. She took a quick breath and said something that she didn't want to, but needed to be said anyways: "You may not like what I'm about to say, but it's the truth. You're turning into Mom. You're nagging me just like she did when I was in high school. Why do you think I left? Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get ready for my evening."

Jane looked at Lizzie with a look of extreme distaste on her face and walked out of Lizzie's room, slamming the door behind her. Lizzie released her breath. She honestly didn't know what had come over Jane. She shook her head and started to get ready knowing that if Jane wanted to talk about it she would search Lizzie out and that if Lizzie tried to force her confidence she would only withdraw further into herself.

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Lizzie put the finishing touches on her miniscule make-up and smiled. She didn't wear it often and when she did she didn't wear that much. But she thought the overall affect tonight was good. She capped her mascara and ran her brush through her hair again. She set it down and the phone in her room rang.

She picked it up and listened to the other end. It was the front desk calling to say that William was there to pick her up. With one last glance at herself in the mirror she made her way out of the apartment and downstairs to meet William.


	19. Another Date

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

Lizzie smiled when she saw William. She restrained herself from throwing herself in his arms but he was still hit with a somewhat hard impact.

"Happy to see me?" he asked her chuckling slightly.

"You have no idea," was her muffled reply.

William held her for a few moments and then loosened his hold to move to her side to guide her to his car.

"You're wearing jeans," she said looking at him.

"Yes I am. I stopped at my place before heading over here."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the car. William helped Lizzie into his car and then walked over to his side and climbed in. He waited until they were on their way before he asked her what was wrong.

Lizzie told him everything. William was quiet through the entire narration and didn't say anything for a few minutes after she finished.

"It's just so confusing. She's never really acted this way before and I'm at a loss as to what is bringing this on besides the Lydia situation," Lizzie said.

William reached over a grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "You're probably right. She has to be stressed about this situation and I'm sure it will blow over in a few days. She just needs time," he told her reassuringly.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Eventually William parked and they got out of the car. William grabbed Lizzie's hand and they walked towards the park that was a little ways away. When they reached it, William led her over to the side of the park that was holding a concert. He picked out a spot that was somewhat secluded, but had an excellent view of the stage. He then spread out the blanket that he pulled from his car and sat down, pulling Lizzie with him.

The concert had already started, but it was only the second act so they hadn't missed that much. The two of them sat there for a few hours occasionally talking, but mostly listening to the various bands that were spotlighted. By the time William suggested dinner Lizzie realized just how late it was.

They walked a short distance to the hotel that was just down the road. Luckily it was only about 10 p.m. so they restaurant would still be seating people. It was also a good thing that they had a casual restaurant as well. They both would have been very underdressed to sit in a nicer restaurant.

The hostess showed them to their seats and gave them both menus. A few minutes after the hostess left them their waiter made his way to their table. Lizzie and William settled in and enjoyed their dinner very much. Thankfully, for both of them, this wasn't as awkward as the first date had been because they each sort of knew where the other person stood feelings wise. But that didn't mean that there wasn't some insecurity between them still.

They were each still hung up on the whole Wickham debacle. If they hadn't been so upfront when he first appeared things could have gone badly. William could just see himself flying off the handle about Lizzie having dated Wickham and not listening to her if she tried to talk about the farce that was her and Wickham's relationship.

Lizzie could also see herself becoming prejudiced against William. She hadn't told him, but Wickham had told her all about William Darcy. He had waxed on and on about how he was cheated out of his inheritance and it was all William Darcy's fault.

But luckily for the two of them Wickham actually proved to be the person that made them both listen to the other and becoming closer in the process.

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After dinner, they walked back outside.

"I can't believe it's almost midnight," Lizzie said.

"I know. Time flew by," William responded.

Lizzie leaned into him and William put his arm around her.

"I wish this night wouldn't end. It just feels so perfect."

William chuckled and said, "I feel the exact same way."

They continued their walk to William's car in silence. When they reached it, William unlocked the car but didn't open the door for Lizzie to get in. She looked at him quizzically.

"It doesn't have to end here," William said, looking somewhat nervous.

"What do you mean?" she asked with an inkling of what he might be proposing.

"Well," he said as he moved closer, pinning her body against his car, "you could come back to my place and continue our evening there."

William then lightly pressed his lips to hers. Lizzie could feel herself getting lost in William's kiss. She really wanted to go with him, but at the same time didn't think she should because of the whole Jane thing.

She was just about to break the kiss and say she couldn't when she realized that she didn't really owe Jane anything at the moment. While she might regret not smoothing things out with her right away, Lizzie wanted to have some fun. So instead of breaking the kiss to say she couldn't go, she broke away and breathlessly said, "How far away to you live? And I hope you have protection there."

William sprang into action. He said, "Don't you worry about that."

He opened her door and practically ran to the other side of the car. Lizzie giggled seeing how excited he was about the way the evening would end and admitted to herself that she was just as excited.

They spent the entire ride to his loft in a silence that was ripe with tension, but a good type of tension. When they finally arrived, William fumbled a bit with his keys he was so excited about what was going to happen. He did manage to get the door open and as soon as it shut, he and Lizzie didn't think about anything besides the person that was in their arm

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Lizzie awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of her phone ringing. She groggily sat up and tried to remember where her pants were. As she tried to stand, William's arm tried to pull her back down, but she managed to break away and find her pants on the chair on the other side of the room.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. She groaned when she saw it was Jane calling. After quietly letting herself out of William's bedroom and making her way to the living room she answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Lizzie. It's Jane."

"I know. I do have caller ID."

"Right, I forgot," Jane said, sounding weird.

There was a lengthy pause on both sides. Eventually Lizzie got tired of not saying anything and said, "Is there a reason for this call or did you just call to stand or sit in silence on the other end?"

"There's a reason," Jane started. She then took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."

Even though Jane couldn't see her, Lizzie quirked an eyebrow. While she shouldn't say it this way, Lizzie sarcastically said, "Whatever for?"

There was another silence. This one made Lizzie a little angry. It seemed to be quite obvious that Jane didn't really know what to apologize for, only that she should apologize.

"I think it's quite obvious you don't know what to apologize for Jane. So since that's the case I'm going to hang up and we can talk whenever you get back from Meryton. And this time instead of just assuming I'll be there and blowing up at me when I'm not, call me to let me know the time you're going to be home."

With that, Lizzie hung up the phone and turned it off. She made her way back to the bedroom and dropped her phone on the chair that held her pants. As she climbed back into the bed William drowsily asked her, "Who was that?"

"Jane attempting to apologize," was her dry response.

That caused William to wake up a little more. "Attempting?"

"Yes. She didn't really know what she should be apologizing for. So I told her we would talk when she got back and that she needed to call me and let me know when she was going to be coming back so I would be there."

"At least you two are going to work it out," he said, already falling back asleep.

Lizzie followed his lead and settled back down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.


	20. It'll All Work Out

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

Lizzie awoke to the strange sensation of something wet on her face. Before opening her eyes she tried to think of what it could be. As she thought, the wetness moved from her face to her neck and chest area. She opened an eye and saw William was peppering her with soft, obviously wet kisses.

William glanced up at her and broke into a grin. "Good morning," he said, continuing his ministrations.

His response was a sigh. "If only I could wake up like this every morning," she thought.

He continued to kiss her for a few minutes more and then moved to the side to lie beside her. He didn't touch her after settling down beside her which caused Lizzie to raise an inquiring eyebrow at him.

"I decided to wake you up early enough this morning so that if you wanted to have an amorous liaison with me you could," he said with a straight face while not looking at her.

Lizzie's eyes got big. "An 'amorous liaison?'" she asked trying not to laugh.

William just looked at her. It was obvious that he was trying to not break out into a grin or laugh as well.

Lizzie looked around and looked as if she was thinking about something. "Hmmm…I think I could oblige you," she said before tackling him to the bed.

Luckily enough for the two of them it didn't take too long until they were both exhausted and laying in a heap on the bed. They both lay there for a few minutes until they caught their breath and then Lizzie moved to get off him.

William tried to stop her but she wiggled out of his grasp. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her, pouting.

"I'm getting dressed so I can go home and work. I have another meeting tomorrow. I would have had more time between yesterday's meeting and tomorrow's meeting except that the whole thing with Lydia happened and I put everything else on hold until that was settled. Now I'll be rushed for a while," Lizzie was saying as she wandered around trying to find her clothes. "I figure that if I work all today on what he said yesterday and on some other stuff, I won't be too bad off after tomorrow."

Lizzie paused and looked around the room. "Have you seen my underwear?"

William quirked an eyebrow and pulled his hand from beneath the covers with her underwear hanging off of it. "You mean these?" he asked innocently.

"How did you get them?" she asked making her way to the bed to get them from him.

"I'm a magician," he said keeping them just out of her reach.

Lizzie tried for a few more minutes and was still unsuccessful. She eventually huffed and said, "What are you going to do with them?"

William smiled and said, "Keep them on me all day. I want to be able to smell you whenever I want."

Lizzie gasped and stood up. "You are a dirty old man," she said walking into his bathroom and shutting the door. A few minutes later she walked out completely dressed (sans panties) in the previous nights clothes.

In the time that Lizzie had been in the bathroom William had pulled his boxers and a pair of shorts on so he could walk her to the door. When they reached the door, William held her for a few minutes and told her to call him if she needed to talk. He then watched her walk to the curb where he had his driver waiting to take her back to her apartment.

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Lizzie spent most of the day ensconced in her room, only coming out to use the bathroom and get food. She got a call from Jane around lunch saying she would be leaving Meryton around 2-ish and that they could decide on dinner when she got back.

Overall, the day for Lizzie was very productive and she got a lot more accomplished than she thought she would. She was just finishing up with one of her drawings when she heard Jane come into the apartment. Lizzie turned around to go out and greet Jane and saw that Jane was already in her room and looked incredibly stressed.

"Jane, are you okay?" Lizzie asked her, standing up to guide Jane to her couch.

Once they were seated, Jane said, "No, I'm not okay."

Lizzie didn't say anything and just waited for Jane to speak. A few seconds later it all came pouring out.

"Everything was fine when me and Lydia left this morning. Lydia was still being incredibly stand-offish, but she was polite. That changed when we got home. Mom was horrible. Dad kept trying to at least get her to calm down and be quiet so he could make sure Lydia was okay, but Mom and Lydia was bemoaning what had happened and how she hated having to stay with the two of us because we didn't pay her any mind and we had our boyfriends over. Thankfully Mom didn't hear the boyfriend comment, but she latched onto Lydia's comment about us mistreating her and went on this super long tirade about how we're supposed to look after our younger sisters. Then Mary added in her moralizations about life and everything, causing Lydia to almost launch herself at her when Mary implied to Lydia was less than pristine. So, I restrained Lydia while Dad restrained Mom," here Jane took a deep breath and glanced at Lizzie.

Lizzie's mouth was hanging open. She honestly couldn't believe it. She knew her mother and younger sisters didn't quite have everything quite right in their head, but this was completely ridiculous.

Jane then continued: "Everything finally calmed down for a little while. But then Dad got a call from the police to talk about the case and as soon as he was off the phone Lydia and Mom started to badger him to tell them what he had talked about, which he refused to do, locking himself in his study. He came out twice before I left: for lunch and to see me off."

Jane paused again to catch her breath before she continued, "The one good thing that came out of today was that during the ride back I had a lot of time to think."

Jane then continued by telling Lizzie about everything that had been on her mind: being worried about Lydia and then finding her but Lydia just being Lydia; her and Charles' relationship because she felt like something was changing between the two of them, but she wasn't sure what; and then how she felt like she was loosing Lizzie.

Lizzie sat there for a few minutes without saying anything. "I'm sorry that you're having so many troubles. I really do wish you had said something to me earlier. I understand how you feel about Lydia. I was super worried and then we find her and she's completely ungrateful. But what else can she expect? I can also honestly tell you that you aren't loosing me. I mean, in a way you are because I am 'dating' him. We're not super serious, but I can see us becoming very serious very fast. Which is scary, but I just know that my life is somehow connected to him. But you should know that I'll always be here for you when you need me."

Lizzie paused here because Jane started to cry. Lizzie wasn't sure whether it was because of what she said (she felt that she may have been a little harsh in her wording) or something else. So she did the only thing she could think of: she wrapped her arms around Jane and held her while she cried.

Eventually her sobs subsided and Jane told her about the problems she was having with Charles. It seems that he was being a little colder towards her and he just wasn't acting the same as he used to. She didn't know what was happening because she felt that she had been a little more open with her feelings than she normally is.

Lizzie honestly didn't know what to tell her so she said, "It may be that something big is going on at the hospital. He may have a review coming up or maybe he's about to be transferred. It could be any number of things."

Jane sniffled and nodded that she understood. They both sat there for a few more minutes before Lizzie suggested that they order some take-out and then settle down to watch a chick-flick on the couch. Jane readily agreed and practically ran out of the room to get a menu.

Lizzie followed at a more sedate pace and saw Jane was already on the phone with their favorite Chinese place ordering their regular meal. Once she hung up Lizzie told her to go take a shower to calm down and she would set everything up. Jane was happy to oblige.

While Jane was showering Lizzie got the movie set up and got the utensils they would need to eat. She walked back to her room briefly to grab something and didn't hear the phone ring. When she walked back out to the living room, she saw the phone blinking, indicating there was a message.

She dialed the number and waited for the message to start. It was from Charles and he said that he needed to talk to Jane as soon as possible. Lizzie didn't delete it and was hanging the phone up when Jane walked back in.

"Charles called. I didn't hear the phone ring, so he left a message, which I didn't delete. You can go ahead and call him if you want."

Jane grabbed the phone and walked back to her room to have the conversation in private. A few minutes later the Chinese arrived and Lizzie set it out. The only problem was that Jane was still in her room. Lizzie walked down the hall and quietly knocked on her door so she could let Jane know the food was there. When she didn't receive a response she cracked the door and saw Jane lying on the bed in a ball with the phone beside her.

"Jane? What's wrong?" Lizzie said rushing to sit by her side.

Jane was crying and sobbing hysterically and just barely managed to say that Charles had called to break up with her. Apparently he didn't even give a reason; he just said it was over. Lizzie sat behind Jane and started to soothingly rub her back. A few minutes later she was able to convince Jane to come out to the living room to eat something before going back to her room.

The two of them ate in silence. As soon as Jane finished and had put her stuff away she escaped back down the hall. Lizzie honestly didn't know what to make of Charles breaking up with Jane.

Once she had finished getting her stuff cleaned up, she went into her room and phoned William.

"Hello? Darcy here," came William's voice over the line.

"Hey, it's Lizzie."

"Hey Elizabeth. How are you?" Lizzie could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm okay. It's Jane I'm worried about."

William prompted her to continue. Lizzie then told him about Charles' behavior and then break-up. William was thrown for a loop.

"I don't know what's going on with him. The last time I saw him was a few days ago when Wickham was arrested. I haven't talked to either, but he seemed fine."

"So he never mentioned having doubts about Jane?"

"No," William said thoughtfully. William had always liked Jane and she and Charles seemed to get along well. He knew that Caroline and Louisa didn't care for Jane or Lizzie that much. Thinking about it a bit more he realized that he couldn't really put it past Caroline to try something with Charles to get him to break up with Jane.

Lizzie sighed and changed the subject. She didn't know what to think and it was obvious that William knew absolutely nothing about what had happened. A little while later they each made their goodbyes and hung up. Lizzie went to check on Jane and then got into bed since she had a long day the next day.

William called Charles after thinking for a little while longer about the situation and asked him to meet him for lunch the next day. William figured he would ask Charles how everything was and see if he would mention it on his own so he could find something out.


	21. You've Got to Be Kidding

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it.

The next day at lunch saw William meeting Charles at a nice little diner in between the hospital and William's office building. William arrived first and secured a more secluded table for their conversation and sat back to watch for Charles. A little while later he saw him walk in and make his way over.

The conversation started with the general pleasantries: asking about family and work. Then William asked how Charles was doing and held his breath, hoping that Charles would talk about his break up with Jane.

Luckily enough, Charles immediately came out with it.

"I broke up with Jane last night," Charles said.

William raised his eyebrows and hoped he looked surprised.

"Don't look so surprised Darcy. I'm sure you knew it was coming," Charles said while reading his menu.

William really didn't know what to think. He wanted Charles to be open about it, but he wasn't expecting him to be that open about it. William cleared his throat and said, "I really am surprised. Why did you two break up?"

Their conversation briefly paused while they waited for their waitress to finish taking their order. Once she had walked away, they resumed.

"Well, it's hard to say really. She didn't really seem to like me that much and I heard some things about her. Basically I just don't think she's the person I thought she was."

William looked at Charles and said, "What things have you heard?"

"Different things. Caroline said that she was a gold digger after my money and that she didn't like me. She also told me that there were rumors going around about her and another man having 'meetings' in private while she was dating me. I could go on really."

William just stared at him and then slowly said, "You mean to tell me that you broke up with Jane because of something your sister said."

Charles nodded and said, "I also feel that you should stop seeing Lizzie. Caroline said that she's heard some not so nice things going around about her and it wouldn't be good for you to be associated with Lizzie because she'll ruin your good name."

William took a few deep breaths to calm himself. While he may not know Lizzie the best in the world he knew enough about her to know that she wouldn't bring shame to him family. William was about to respond to Charles' comment, but their waiter brought their food out to them and he waited until they were alone again.

"Charles, I have to say I'm ashamed of you right now. You have just insulted the woman that I am dating and her sister. Have you even paid any attention to the two of them? I mean really! Jane as a gold digger! Has she ever exhibited that behavior towards you? And then her having 'clandestine meetings' with another man, you actually believe that? Do you have no trust in her?"

"I had trust in her. But Caroline-" Charles started.

"I hate to say this Charles, but why are you believing that harpy?!"

Charles stared a William in shock. William had to take some calming breaths once again before he could continue. "Besides what Caroline told you, do you have any other reason to doubt Jane?"

"No, not really."

"I'm just stuck on how you could trust Caroline. Since you believed her, it honestly makes me wonder if you've been around the same Jane Bennet that I have. The Jane I know, granted I don't know her that well, but the Jane I know wouldn't be after someone just for their money and she sure as hell wouldn't cheat on someone. She's too honest and nice for it."

William was truly disgusted with Charles. He knew that Charles relied heavily on his advice and Caroline's opinions, but he didn't realize it was that bad. He honestly thought Caroline had gone too far.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes trying to eat their lunch, but William couldn't eat a bit. He eventually threw his napkin down and said to Charles, "You can do what you want with your life and I will still call you my friend. But your sister Caroline will never be allowed to come over anymore and I will not see her anymore if I can help it. You can also tell her that what she said about Elizabeth was bullshit. I don't even want to know what it was, but she's not a gold digger because she's already rich in her own right and she's never anything but kind to people. Even those that don't deserve her kindness."

With that William laid his money on the table and strode from the restaurant, still fuming about what Charles had told him. Once he reached his car, he stood outside of it for a few moments and then called Richard to see if he was available to talk.

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When Darcy reached Richard's apartment building, he went straight up and knocked on the door. Luckily Caroline didn't seem to be lurking in the halls (since she lived in the same building) and Darcy was able to get out of a chance meeting with her. He may not be so lucky when he left though.

After being let in, Richard went to fix the two of them drinks and Darcy went and sank into a chair in Richard's living room. A few minutes later Richard wordlessly offered him the drink and sat in a chair opposite him. Richard waited and didn't say anything. It was obvious Darcy needed to talk about something and Richard didn't want to pressure him into talking about it (though he knew he would since he had called him).

After quietly sipping their drinks for a few minutes the entire story spilled out of Darcy. When he finished they again lapsed into silence. Richard thought about what Darcy had told him and then said, "So it turns out Charles is more of a buffoon than we originally thought?"

Darcy almost spit his drink out. He sputtered for a few seconds before he could get "He's not that bad" out.

"I concede that he isn't too foppish at times, but you have to admit, he's a bit like a lost puppy dog."

William put his drink glass down and slowly traced the rim. "It just surprises me what he's done. It doesn't surprise me that Caroline talked to him about Jane. It surprises me that he actually listened to her and believed everything she said. Especially since he had been around her a lot more than Caroline. The only thing Caroline can go off of is a weekend a few weeks ago."

Richard nodded. "Well, Darcy, I hate to say this, but Charles doesn't really think for himself. He's always coming to you to ask about certain aspects of his life and listens to what you say might be a good idea and do it without regard to the consequences it could have for him later. It looks like Caroline knows how to pull his strings, emotional and purse, and she has no intention of severing them any time soon. She probably sees Jane as a threat to her in that department and Lizzie as a threat to her on your front."

"Why would Lizzie be a threat to her?"

Richard looked at him like he had grown a third head. "She's been after you since she first met you because you are 'William Darcy,' CEO and owner of one of the biggest businesses in England. She practically throws herself at you to get you to notice her."

"I would never marry Caroline or do anything of _that_ nature with her," Darcy said looking disgusted.

"I know that and you know that. Hell, Charles probably knows it as well as the rest of the world. But she doesn't. Unless you tell her in no uncertain terms that you have no feelings beyond the platonic I feel that she really could make your life a living hell. Especially if she dislikes Lizzie as much as you say she does."

Darcy leaned back and thought for a few moments. He really only tolerated Caroline for Charles' sake, but he had noticed that her attentions seemed to become a little more pointed towards him recently. Darcy sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"What should we do?" he eventually asked Richard

"Funny that you should ask," he said, leaning forward. Richard then proceeded to tell Darcy what he thought should be done.

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Darcy left Richard's apartment feeling much better. He knew he needed to talk about Charles with someone, but he didn't think it should be Elizabeth because of her sister being the one that was broken up with. He also knew that he needed to get someone else's opinion on how much he should tell her. Darcy didn't want to purposefully keep information from her, but he didn't want to tell her so much that she became super angry about Charles and Caroline.

He glanced at his watch and saw that it was still fairly early so he rang Elizabeth to see if she wouldn't mind meeting her in a small tea shop for a quick cup of tea. She readily agreed and they agreed to meet in a little while.

Darcy got there first and secured them a semi-secluded table so they could have some privacy because of their discussion. He waved the waiter off stating that someone else was coming and settled down to await Elizabeth's arrival. Luckily enough he didn't have to wait long because Lizzie really wanted to see him.

He stood up when he saw her approach and gave her a quick kiss. As they sat down, he got the waiters attention and they placed their order. Once the waiter left William asked Lizzie, "How is everything?"

Lizzie smiled and filled him in on the conversation she had with Jane. The other night when she had talked to him she hadn't gone into too much detail because Jane was still broken up about Charles and she was more concerned with hearing William's voice than talking about her very serious conversation with Jane.

"That's good that the two of you were able to talk about it so easily," William said smiling.

"Yeah. I was so worried that it was going to be something that neither of us was willing to talk about and that it was going to be just horrible."

They continued to talk about their respective days (with William leaving his conversation with Charles and Richard out) until the tea arrived. William thought it might be better to talk about what he had found out after they had their tea so they wouldn't have a lot of interruptions.

After they each had made theirs to their liking William stated, "I had lunch with Charles today."

Lizzie tried to calmly take a sip of her tea and hoped that it wasn't too noticeable that her hands were shaking. After setting her cup down, she asked, "And what did you two talk about?"

"Jane mostly."

Lizzie stared at him, her eyes urging him to continue.

"He brought it up without me mentioning anything. I was just going to push him to talk about it, but he opened the lunch with it."

William then outlined the basic conversation, stating that Caroline convinced Charles that she was hearing rumors about her and that Charles had believed them. He also mentioned how Charles had stated that he didn't think Jane liked him as much as he originally thought. William decided to leave out what Caroline had said about Lizzie unless she asked him, which he feared she would do because she was looking at him like she knew he was hiding something.

"What else? It's obvious you haven't told me everything."

William sighed and said, "Caroline also mentioned to Charles, hoping that he would mention it to me, that there were rumors about you going around as well."

He glanced at her face and saw that she had gone pale and was very angry so he quickly continued with, "I don't know what they are nor do I care. But I did tell Charles he shouldn't believe everything Caroline tells him because I know that it's not true whatever it is."

That calmed Lizzie down some, but not all the way. She couldn't believe the nerve of that woman. Lizzie flinched when she felt William's hand touch her own. He had reached his hand across the table to hold her and said, "I haven't finished telling you everything."

He said that with a smile, so Lizzie knew that it was going to be something good. He continued, "Richard gave me some good ideas of something we could do to 'pay' Caroline back for her wonderful advice to Charles. It turns out that she has been doing some interesting things in her apartment and around town. Richard has noticed some of her odd habits and other things. So we're going to hire a private investigator to tail her and get some evidence on her. We feel that what she's doing may be illicit and we think that she wouldn't appreciate having those charges, whatever they may be, laid at her door and in the public."

Lizzie laughed. She could just imagine Caroline's face when she got slapped with some suit. Even though she had only been around her for that one weekend, it was more than enough time for Lizzie to determine that Caroline Bingley was not the type of person that one really liked.

The rest of their "date" passed with easy conversation and them setting tentative plans for a few days from this meeting. They parted with a long kiss and went their separate ways, each with the other person on their mind.


	22. Planning a Vacation

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…though I wish I did…

Darcy and Elizabeth weren't able to see each other for the rest of the week and part of the next to the consternation of both. They did have nightly phone conversations that would go on for hours, but it wasn't the same as seeing each other face to face. It eventually got to the point that Darcy cleared his schedule for an afternoon and spent that afternoon and evening in Lizzie's apartment doing absolutely nothing. He just enjoyed being in her company after being deprived of it for so long.

When Elizabeth opened the door to let William into her apartment, no words were exchanged the minute they put their eyes on the other they were kissing each other hungrily, as if they hadn't seen each other in years instead of days.

William walked into the apartment (still attached to Lizzie's lips) so they could shut the door and not be arrested for public lewdness. After several more minutes of frantic kissing, they broke apart for need of air. As they each stood there gasping for air, they tried to put their thoughts in order.

"I made dinner for the two of us and Jane," Lizzie said breaking away and making her way back to the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind her joining us. She'll only be here for dinner. Then she has to go to the school, there's some sort of visitation tonight. I think the students and their parents come out to meet their teacher for the year."

William walked into the kitchen and sat down on a bar stool. "It's okay. I really don't mind."

He sat there watching her and then asked the question he had been wanting to ask, "How's Jane?"

Unsure of the right response, Lizzie didn't answer for a few seconds. Outwardly, Jane looked the same. But she had the feeling that Jane wasn't okay on the inside. It wasn't that Jane was coming home every night crying and bemoaning Charles; it was that Lizzie knew her sister well enough to tell that she wasn't completely okay.

"It's hard to say," Lizzie started turning to face William. "It's not what she says, it's what she doesn't say. That tells me that she's unhappy with his decision."

William nodded. "I wish I could say the same about Charles. But after our last meeting and the way he acted I truly believe that he is doing what he thinks he should."

Now it was Lizzie's turn to nod her head. They sat in silence while Lizzie finished cooking. When Lizzie was almost finished, they heard Jane let herself into the apartment and make her way to her bedroom. A few minutes later she came into the kitchen.

"It smells amazing in here! What are you cooking?" Jane asked taking a big sniff.

"It's called chicken pastry. It's a recipe I got from an American friend. She said it's one of her favorite dishes and that it's really popular in the southern United States. So I told her I'd try it. Last time I was at her apartment I helped her cook it and it was amazing. That's why I'm cooking it now."

"So you mean to say they stick it in some animal fat and fry it?" William asked with a smirk.

"You know, not everything from the southern United States is fried," Lizzie said huffily.

When she noticed the doubtful expressions on their faces she continued, "Or so I've been told. They just seem to like their fried foods."

William and Jane burst out laughing. William knew he was talking about the stereotype; he just couldn't resist mentioning it when Lizzie seemed to like it so much. A few minutes later Lizzie was finished cooking and she set the pot on the table. Once everyone had settled in she started to fill their plates and they dug in.

"Your American friend was right!" William said with his mouth full. "This is one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted."

"I completely agree with William," Jane said in between bites.

Lizzie laughed and continued to eat. She also glowed with happiness when she saw them both going back for seconds (and in William's case thirds). The conversation over dinner was easy, though there were a few times when it seemed to get tense when someone said something that reminded Jane of Charles. Luckily they were able to smooth over those parts of the conversation relatively easily.

Once dinner was finished, Jane cleared her place and said that she had to get back to school because she hadn't been able to finish setting her classroom up earlier in the day. Lizzie nodded and walked with her to the door.

"How are you Jane?" Lizzie asked her, hoping that Jane would realize what she was asking.

Jane hesitated briefly before replying, "I'm better. It was really hard at first and it still is hard but I realize that Charles obviously wasn't the guy I thought he was. I mean, what guy breaks up over the phone?"

Lizzie nodded and bit her lip.

"Lizzie, don't worry about me. I'll be down for a while, but I really think that with time I can move on to find someone better than him."

With that, Jane let herself out of the apartment and left Lizzie with a lot to think about.

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As soon as Jane arrived at the school, she quickly got her classroom in order. She tidied her desk and made sure she had her pamphlets and assignment sheets ready for the influx of people. When she finished, she realized that she still had a little time to kill so she set about trying to figure out a cryptogram in the cryptogram book she carried around with her.

She had just finished one and was about to start a second one when a man and a small girl walked into the classroom. Jane quickly put her book away and rose to greet them.

"Hello. My name is Ms. Jane Bennet," she said sticking her hand out for the man to shake.

"My name is Richard Fitzwilliam," he said as he shook her hand. "This little munchkin here is Isabelle."

Jane bent down and said, "How are you Isabelle?"

Isabelle's response was, "Are you an angel?"

Jane tried to stifle her laughter at Isabelle's question. "No, I'm not. I'm far from it actually."

She then led them to the front of the classroom and gave Richard the materials. Isabelle started to wander around the room and Jane decided to engage Richard in conversation.

"Is your daughter excited about the school year Mr. Fitzwilliam?" Jane asked.

Richard started at the question. "First, please call me Richard. When you say Mr. Fitzwilliam I think my father is standing behind me. Secondly, Isabelle isn't my daughter. She's my niece. My brother and his wife couldn't make it so they asked me to bring her for them. I was more than happy to since Isabelle and I get on so well."

"That's nice that the two of you get along. I know that some adults don't like to be involved with the children in their family, which I think is a shame. I absolutely adore children."

"I understand," Richard said nodding and chuckling at what Jane had said. "I have a cousin who is great with kids. The only problem is that they flock to him and he doesn't know what to do with himself."

Jane laughed. Her conversation with Richard continued for a few more minutes until more parents started to come in. They said goodbye (somewhat reluctantly on Richard's part) and Jane turned to speak with the other people in the room.

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Later that evening Lizzie lay in William's arms as they watched a movie and thought about Jane. In all honesty, she hadn't been able to get her sister off her mind since Charles broke up with her. She sighed, drawing William's attention.

"What wrong?" he asked her, shifting so he could look at her face.

"I'm just so worried about Jane," After a moment of silence, Lizzie told him about the conversation she had earlier with Jane at the door.

William lay there in thought for a few minutes and then said, "When does school start for her?"

"Not for another week or two."

Another silence and then, "Does she have to be there for the full two weeks?"

"No. She isn't required until two days before the start of classes," Lizzie said, sitting up to look at William.

When he didn't immediately say anything, she started to prod, "Why are you asking?"

"I was thinking why don't the two of you take a quick vacation. I know you technically had one when we all went to Southampton with Charles and me, but I was thinking something farther away and something for the two of you. Of course, I would also be there, but that's beside the point."

"What do you mean?"

"Why don't the two of you go with me, my cousin Richard, and my sister Georgiana to Pemberley, my family's ancestral home?" he asked nonchalantly.

Lizzie eyes got huge. She was having a little bit of a problem processing what William had just asked her. "Are you serious?" she asked in a stage whisper.

William leaned in close and replied in a stage whisper as well, "Yes."

"I would love to! I'm sure Jane will as well. I'll ask when she gets back," she told him as she threw her arms around him.

William and Lizzie spent the rest of the evening making plans for the trip. They were still discussing it when Jane walked into the apartment around nine that night.

"Hey you two," Jane said as she walked into the living room. "Why do you two look like the cat that ate the canary?"

"William has invited us to spend a week with him, his cousin, and his sister at Pemberley!" Lizzie said excitedly.

Jane stared at her. When she didn't respond, Lizzie asked, "Jane, are you okay?"

That caused Jane to jerk herself out of her stupor. "Why did you invite us?"

"It seems like you need to get away. I think this will help. Besides, when will you have the chance again? Schools about to start and you'll be tied up with that," William said smiling.

Jane then started to ask questions about the tri p. Once she finished her inquisition she said that she would love to go. They agreed they would leave in two days time, giving Jane and Lizzie plenty of time to prepare for the trip.


	23. Pemberley pt 1

**Disclaimer:** As per usual, I still don't own it.

**A/N:** So it's been a while since I've written one of these for this story. It's been that way because I post this story on two other websites and I'm so busy trying to get it posted on those two sites that I don't really think about writing one of these things. Anyways, the reason for this is to say thanks for all the reviews. Even though I haven't been getting as many as I have for past chapters, I still appreciate the few that are sticking with the story (especially if it seems to be dragging out in parts). If that happens, it's because I can't really think of anything to write. Moving on, the posting schedule has been pretty quick the last week or two because I'm home on break. I have about a week and a half left on said break and I'm hoping to mostly finish the story by January 9, when my classes start back up. So after January 9 things will slow down a bit. But like I said I'm hoping to have this mostly finished. My posting schedule for the rest of the break will be every other day, Monday Wednesday Friday and I'll take the weekends off to write and then start posting again on Monday. So, I think I have five more updates until the real world comes into play. Anywho, thanks again to my reviewers and I hope you keep reviewing. For those that are reading, just lurking (and I know you're there. I have a thing that tells me how many views each chapter gets and how many people have put me on alert) please feel free to review me. I don't bite unless provoked (and that's usually because someone writes me something that they call a review and I call an insult). Anyways, enjoy this chapter and the ones that come after. Maryanne

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By the time Jane, William, and Lizzie left London, they were ready for their vacation. It seemed that everything that could possibly go wrong and delay their trip did. So when the day for their departure dawned bright, clear, and warm, they quickly loaded up and left their real lives behind to enjoy a week of rest and relaxation.

Pemberley was a few hour drive north of London, the three didn't mind as it gave Jane and Darcy a chance to really get to know each other, especially since Lizzie fell asleep almost as soon as they got on the highway. The friendship they forged that day would last for many years. They discussed their likes and dislikes, their work, and choices they had made in life.

Along the way, each came to the realization that if things had been different it might have been them in a relationship, not William and Lizzie. But neither gave it more than a passing thought; William because of his love for Lizzie and Jane because he was Charles' best friend.

Eventually, Jane brought up her relationship and break up with Charles. She told William some things that he already knew. Jane also told him some things that he didn't know; about two weeks before Charles broke up with her he had started to ask her about everything she was doing: where she was going, who she was with. It seemed that if he suspected she would be meeting anyone he would try to come along or persuade her to not go. William thought that it was very odd behavior for Charles.

William sighed. Jane had fallen asleep a few minutes before and he had a lot to think about and tell Richard when they arrived at Pemberley. He had thought that it was strange that Charles broke up with Jane, but he hadn't realized it had been going on for such a long time. It was obvious that Caroline had started her lies pretty early in the relationship. Thinking back, William realized that the party in Meryton had been a little over a month and a half ago. If Charles had started asking questions about two weeks ago (possibly earlier if Jane didn't really think anything of it when he started) then that meant around a month after they started to go out, Charles was being manipulated.

William sighed again and tried to clear his mind.

"You don't look happy," Lizzie said by his side, causing him to jump slightly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you," she said sheepishly.

"It's okay," William said trying to calm his heart. "I didn't realize that you were awake."

"I just woke up a little while ago and was trying to clear my head."

Lizzie sat up and stretched a little, trying to work the kinks out of her back and neck. Glancing back over at William, she noticed he was still pensive. "Anything you want to talk about?" she asked.

"No, I'm just thinking about my cousin, Richard," he told her, smiling slightly. He glanced into the back to make sure Jane was still asleep and then said, "I need to talk to him about Caroline's PI to see if anything new has happened and to tell him to back off Jane. Once he sees you two, he'll go into charm mode."

Lizzie quietly laughed at William's description of his cousin. "He can't be that bad."

William narrowed his eyes at her and said, "You haven't met him. Wait till you do to pass judgment. You'll see what I mean, trust me."

Lizzie just shook her head. The two of them then settled into a companionable silence and the rest of the ride was passed in peace.

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As they neared Pemberley he had Lizzie wake Jane up; he wanted their first view of Pemberley to be from a distance. He stopped the car when he came to the bridge that crossed the stream that marked the edge of the entrance to Pemberley.

"It's magnificent," Lizzie breathed.

"Ditto," Jane responded.

They were both speechless at the sight before them. The house was huge and there seemed to be a million windows on the front side alone. William chuckled and started the long trip up the drive. Quickly shutting their mouths the sisters tried to discreetly wipe the drool from their faces as they came to a stop inside the garage.

William popped the boot and they all got out and walked around to get their bags. He walked to the door in the garage that led into the house and opened it, allowing Lizzie and Jane to walk in before him.

"This is a room just off the main foyer," William explained as he led them through another door that led to the foyer. The trio had just passed through the door before they caught a glimpse of a blue, white, and yellow blur out of the corner of their eyes. The next thing they knew, the blur had launched itself at William and was proceeding to squeeze the life out of him.

Lizzie's eyes widened as she saw William trying to extract himself from the arms wrapped tightly around him. Loosening her grip, the girl erupted, "I'm so happy you're here!"

William coughed while he tried to regain his breath and said, "I'm glad to be here too, Georgie."

Recovering, he noticed Georgie was looking at the two women behind him curiously.

"This is Jane and Elizabeth Bennet."

Jane and Lizzie stepped forward to shake Georgie's hand as she introduced herself to them.

"Welcome to Pemberley!" she said excitedly. "You'll have so much fun here you won't ever want to leave!"

With that, she grabbed one of Jane's hands and one of Lizzie's and led them upstairs to their respective bedrooms. William raised his eyebrows when Lizzie looked at him over her shoulder. He just shrugged at her quizzical look and turned to look at Richard, who had just joined him.

"It seems that Georgie likes them," he said in lieu of a greeting.

"Yeah. I guess she needed to see some other people besides you or me to become animated," William said somewhat dryly.

"They're both very pretty," Richard said. "Especially that blonde one. Did I hear you say her name was Jane?"

William looked at him sternly. "She's off limits. That's the girl that Charles just broke up with. I don't think she needs another man sniffing around her just yet, especially not you."

"I think I'm offended by that," Richard said with a grin. "Besides, maybe I'll go for other one."

Richard had to quickly avoid William's hand as it swung towards his head. "I was just kidding! I know she's off limits as well! Down boy!"

William shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, sending a prayer up. Shaking his head at his cousin, William turned and made his way upstairs to find Lizzie. Opening the door to his room, he realized that he wouldn't have to go find Lizzie after all because she had found him first. She was sitting on his bed, looking around his room.

"How did you find my room?" he asked as he set his bag down in his closet.

"Apparently I've been given the room that is normally given to the mistress of the house," she said with a sly smile on her face.

"Really?" he asked as he started to walk towards her.

"Also, my room and your room happen to have a connecting door. Would you know anything about that?" she asked him as he stopped in front of her.

"Maybe," he said right as he leaned down to claim her mouth.

It was quite a bit later that day before the two of them ventured forth to join the rest of the party.


	24. Pemberley, Day 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

The evening of their arrival at Pemberley was spent very casually. After William and Lizzie emerged from their own little world, they found Georgie and Jane giggling like a couple of grade school girls. Collecting their sisters, they went to find Richard so Jane and Lizzie could be introduced.

Luckily, Richard was where he normally spent his time: the billiard's room.

"Richard, I would like you to meet Jane and Elizabeth Bennet."

Richard turned around and smiled. "Ms. Bennet, it's a pleasure to meet you again," he said while bowing gallantly. "Elizabeth, it's a pleasure to meet you."

William and Lizzie exchanged looks and William asked Richard, "Again?"

"I don't suppose she would have told you considering it was an accidental meeting," Richard said with a glint in his eye.

Lizzie glanced at Jane and saw that she was blushing slightly. She quirked her eyebrow. It seemed there was an attraction between Jane and Richard.

"Yes. Remember earlier in the week when Andrew and Katie went to a business meeting out of town and Isabelle stayed with me? Well I had to take Isabelle to school to meet her teacher. Ms. Bennet just happens to be her teacher," he said, sending a devastating smile her way.

William glared at Richard. Seemingly Richard didn't remember their earlier conversation about Jane being off limits, but William certainly did and he wanted to make sure that Richard remembered it quickly.

"Richard, please outside of school call me Jane," she said.

Richard nodded that he understood and turned back to his billiards game.

William walked over to where Richard was while Lizzie, Jane, and Georgiana decided to wander around the house until dinner. Once the three women had left the room and shut the door behind them William turned to Richard and said, "What about our conversation from earlier?"

"What about it? I remember what you said. I can't help that I flirt unashamedly with beautiful women whenever I see them or that they might flirt back," he responded as he lined up his next shot and took it.

"Richard, this is serious. I talked to her on the way here about her relationship with Charles. She flat out told me that she doesn't want to get into another relationship so soon after her last one because of the circumstances surrounding it. I trust you to take her decision as it is meant to be taken: seriously."

Richard stood up and turned to face William. "Trust me, I do. I'm not going to try and force her into anything. But I can't deny that I am attracted to her. She's a very beautiful woman. I would have to be dead not to notice her," he stated, turning back around. "My goal while we're here is to befriend her and hope that she gets over Charlie-boy quickly so I can date her."

William just shook his head. At least he knew his cousin was serious about not pushing Jane into anything while they were at Pemberley. He walked over to the wall that held the cues and asked Richard, "Do you want to play a few games?"

Richard readily agreed and the two of them spent the remainder of their time before dinner, occupied in this manly pursuit.

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While the men were occupied, Jane and Lizzie were getting the grand tour of Pemberley from Georgie. They started in the portrait gallery as it was essentially centrally located. Walking down the line of portraits, Georgie told them funny anecdotes about the portrait they were viewing.

When they came to a man who looked like he had smelled something rotten, Georgie regaled them with a tale of how it was said that he had lost an unmentionable part of his body during a war and that was why he looked so disagreeable. No one was certain as to what it was he lost because he still had children after his accident. Although there was also speculation that he had bought a "stud" to bed his wife so they would still have heirs.

Jane and Lizzie were still laughing at that story as they made their way to the next room on the tour, the music room. Hilarity followed throughout every room they visited as Georgie regaled them with stories about William and Richard, each tale making the three of them bend over from laughing so hard.

Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper, found them laughing like hyenas in the conservatory.

"Miss Georgiana, dinner is ready in the informal dining room," she told them while trying to hold in her own laughter. While she wouldn't readily admit it, she was happy for William and for Georgiana as well. It had been such a long time since the two of them had been so happy, so carefree. She knew that it had something to do with the two women that were staying in the house for the next week. If she had to sacrifice some of her sanity to see two of the people she loved most dearly in the world happy, then she would do it.

Only when she was outside of the door to the room did she allow herself a small chuckle at the antics of the three young women. She then made her way towards the billiards room to tell Richard and William that dinner was ready.

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Dinner was a very lively affair. It consisted of Richard flirting shamelessly with Jane and Elizabeth (more so Jane) and William shooting him daggers whenever he flirted with either; Elizabeth trying to talk to Georgie while fending off Richard's advances; Georgie trying to talk to Jane to learn more about her career; Mrs. Reynolds trying to bring some order to the party; William trying to restrain himself from throttling Richard; and Lizzie trying to find out if some of the stories that Georgie told her and Jane were true.

By the time they all retired for the night, they had learned a lot about the others. It was easy to tell that this week would be a very fun week at Pemberley.

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Lizzie walked into her room after wishing everyone goodnight and sighed. She had had a lot of fun that evening and was looking forward to the remainder of the week. Since she hadn't really looked at the room earlier, she took the chance now to look at her surroundings. She definitely liked what she saw.

It was obvious that the furnishings were expensive, but the overall affect was a feeling of understated elegance and home. Lizzie wandered over to the mantle and looked at the pictures perched on it. She saw pictures of William and Georgie and a picture of what she assumed was them with their parents.

She was still examining them when William asked, "Do you like your accommodations?"

She hadn't heard him enter the room, so he startled her with his question. Lizzie jumped and turned around quickly. She noticed that he was standing practically behind her and she wondered how he had gotten so close without her hearing him.

"They're very nice," she said breathlessly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I should remember that this isn't really a creaky old house even though it's a few hundred years old."

William leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth. Lizzie watched him as he walked to the bed and started to turn the covers down. He paused to look back at her, "Are you going to sleep in your clothes from today?"

Lizzie then snapped out of it and moved into the closet where she had put her suitcase. She pulled out something for her to sleep in and changed quickly, walking back into the room as William finished turning the bed down.

He nudged the covers, indicating that she should climb under. Once she had lain down, he tucked her in and dropped a kiss on her forehead. He made to stand up, but she stopped him with the question, "You're not staying?!"

William chuckled. "I didn't know you wanted me to. I thought you might want to have this big bed all to yourself."

Lizzie made her pouty face, causing William to whisper a quick, "I'll be right back."

Quickly leaving the room, he returned a few minutes later clad in only boxer briefs and a t-shirt, a robe thrown over one arm. He turned the lights off and then climbed under the covers and asked her "Is this better?"

"Much," she said snuggling up to him.

They lay like that for a few minutes and William was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard Lizzie ask, "So this house has been in your family for generations?"

"Yes. One of my great grandfathers, not sure how many greats, was given this estate by the king. Since then it has been passed to the eldest son in the family."

Lizzie was quiet for a few more minutes and then asked, "What exactly is it that you do?"

"Officially, I'm the CEO of my father's company, Pemberley Technologies. Unofficially I'm a philanthropist. I give a lot of money to schools, charity organizations, hospitals, and the like to help them with renovations and buying the things they need. I kind of look at it as I have more than enough money to last me a life time. Why should I keep it all to myself? There are so many people out there who could use the money I have to better their life. So I give as much as I can."

Lizzie leaned back so she could see William's face and said, "I always knew you were a good man, I just didn't realize how good."

She moved herself up and gave William a kiss that was meant to be quick, but he wouldn't let her get away that easily. He quickly deepened the kiss and it was a while before anyone in that room got any sleep.


	25. Pemberley, Day 2

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it…though I wish I did for Darcy's sake…

Lizzie awoke the next morning very content. The night before had been amazing and had been repeated whenever one of them woke up. She stretched languidly and rolled over to look at William. She paused when she saw that William wasn't in the bed and was upset that he hadn't woken her when he left.

Suddenly she noticed a note on his pillow, which she grabbed. Lizzie quickly read it and saw that he had just gone downstairs to take care of some things and would be back up shortly. His post script stated that she wasn't to leave the bed or get dressed either. She laughed, lay the note on the bedside table and snuggled back down into the covers.

A few minutes later William walked into the room with a laden breakfast tray.

"Was this your important business downstairs?" she asked as she sat up.

"Yes," he stated as he set the tray on the bed carefully. "I wanted to surprise you on your first morning at Pemberley. And before you ask, Mrs. Reynolds did not help me."

"What made you think I was going to ask if Mrs. Reynolds helped?" she asked innocently as she reached for the offered cup of tea.

William looked at her and said, "I know you. You don't think I can survive without some help if I'm not mistaken."

Lizzie laughed and agreed with him. "It's not that I think you can't survive, it's that I think you prefer to have people do things for you that you don't like."

"You caught me," he stated moving more fully onto the bed and pulling the tray in between the two of them. "I hate doing laundry. Hence the reason I send it off. I hate cleaning, hence the maids."

"You hate cooking. Hence Mrs. Reynolds," Lizzie mimicked.

"What makes you think I hate cooking?"

"I've never seen you do it or heard you talk about it," she said looking a little perplexed.

"Before I went off to college, my father wanted to make sure I knew the basics of cooking so I could 'fend for myself.' Those were his words by the way. So I spent a good portion of the summer before I left shadowing Mrs. Reynolds in the kitchen and eventually started to help with dinner. During this 'internship' I found that I really enjoyed it and while I was at school I signed up for a few cooking classes."

"Wow. That's pretty neat," Lizzie stated. "Although now that the cat is out of the bag you realize I'm going to force you to cook for me right?"

William laughed so loud and hard that it caused Richard, Jane, and Georgie, who were walking down the hall, to pause outside the door.

"I thought that was Lizzie's room," Jane said.

"It is," Richard responded.

Georgie's mouth formed an "o" and she quickly hurried down the hall as she blushed furiously. She could hear Richard's laughter bouncing off the walls of the hall as she hurried away.

Back inside the room, the two occupants were completely unaware of the embarrassment they had caused Georgie.

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When William and Lizzie finally dragged themselves from bed, it was lunch time and they joined everyone in a salon to eat.

"Good morning everyone," Lizzie said cheerfully as she entered the room.

Georgie immediately blushed at Lizzie and William, completely confusing Lizzie. She turned back to look at William, but noticed that he was talking to Richard. She walked over to Jane and asked her, "What's wrong with Georgie?"

This question caused Jane to spew her tea out of her mouth. Lizzie's eyes widened and helped her clean up. William and Richard wandered over when they saw Jane's reaction and Richard asked, "What happened?"

Jane was coughing so Lizzie said, "I just asked what was wrong with Georgie?"

Richard burst out laughing. William then looked at Lizzie and asked, "Why are you asking what's wrong with Georgie?"

This question caused Richard to laugh even harder. With a perplexed look, William his attention to Richard and Jane, waiting for an explanation.

Once Richard had caught his breath enough, he explained. "The three of us were walking down the hall this morning and when we were walking past Lizzie's room we heard a very masculine sounding laugh. Jane remarked that she thought it was your room Lizzie. I agreed with her, at which point Georgie turned beet red and scampered down the hall. I'm pretty sure she realized then that you may not have spent the night in your room William," Richard finished with a smirk.

This time it was William and Lizzie's turn to turn to blush. Lizzie covered her face with her hands and said, "I'm mortified."

Observing the pair, Richard started to laugh again, but quieted when he was hit by Jane, then by Georgie and Mrs. Reynolds.

"Young man! Control yourself!" Mrs. Reynolds said. She turned from him to look at William. "I've put lunch out."

"Thank you Mrs. Reynolds," William said.

Lunch was a little awkward as everyone tried to forget about the earlier conversation and move on to other topics.

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After lunch the party decided to take a ride to view the grounds. To do this, William surprised them all by bringing out a carriage with horses.

"It would be kind of wasteful to drive a car around the property," he stated as by way of explanation. "We would also be going too fast to notice much of anything."

Richard walked over to help William get the horses harnessed and to check to make sure everything was the way it should be before they all climbed in. William and Richard then handed the women into the carriage. Richard joined them in the back while William climbed into the front.

"Why don't you get someone else to drive today cousin?" Richard asked when he saw the look on Lizzie's face when she realized that William wouldn't be riding the back with her.

William turned around and saw Richard incline his head towards Lizzie, indicating it was because of her. William then climbed down and disappeared into the stables, returning a few minutes later with a groom.

William then climbed into the back to sit by Lizzie while the groom climbed into the front to drive. Once everyone was settled again, the groomsman snapped the reins and they started their journey around Pemberley, pausing a few times so William could regale them with a tale or to point out something interesting.

By the time they returned to the house it was mid afternoon. As the groomsman pulled the carriage to a stop, William noticed a car out in front of the house.

"I wonder who that can be?" William pondered out loud.

It was a car he didn't recognize, so he had absolutely no idea who it was. Lizzie and Jane both looked at the car and paled when they saw it. They exchanged glances with each other. William and Richard noticed and Richard asked, "Do you know whose car that is?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Lizzie said sighing.

"It's our mother's," Jane finished.

William's eyes widened.

"I'm going to go on and apologize now because I know she won't," Lizzie said. "I don't even know how she found out we were here."

Jane then started to look a little nervous. "I think I may have mentioned we were going away for the week."

"Jane!" Lizzie said. "You know better than to tell mother where we were going. She always takes that as an invitation to invite herself."

Jane bit her lip and followed everyone inside. As soon as the party walked in, they heard what sounded like a loud screeching sound coming from one of the front drawing rooms. Lizzie's hand immediately went to her head because she could feel the headache coming on she usually got whenever around her mother. William reached out and grabbed the hand that wasn't massaging her temples and gave it a gently squeeze. She smiled weakly at him and dropped his hand right before they entered the room. She would have to explain why later, but she knew her mother would pounce on her if she suspected Lizzie was dating the owner of the house.

As they entered the room, they noticed that Mrs. Bennet was not alone. Lydia, Kitty, and Mary were there as well. Mrs. Bennet was screeching to whoever would listen about the lavishness of the house. Lydia and Kitty were discussing the pictures on the walls. Mary was reading a book, ignoring all that was going on around her.

"Mom! What are you guys doing here?" Lizzie asked with a somewhat forced smile.

"Oh Lizzie! Jane mentioned earlier in the week that she was visiting here and I knew that we just had to come and meet the man that she is dating. Especially since he owns this amazing house!"

Lizzie looked at her mother incredulously. Jane went to greet their mother. Lizzie even could hear her mother congratulating Jane on such a fine catch and Jane telling her that she wasn't dating William.

Lizzie heard her mother screech, "Lizzie, if you were more like Jane you could have a man that is just as handsome as her dear William."

Lizzie turned to look at her mother, then moved her eyes to Jane, Richard, Georgie, and finally William. She noticed that William looked murderous.

Her mother continued, "If you would just dress a little more feminine and take more care in your appearance then you might have snagged someone already."

"Yeah," Lydia chimed in as she flounced over. "Although we know that you can't keep a boyfriend."

Lizzie's eyes widened. "Excuse me Lydia! What did you just say?!"

"You heard me," Lydia said nonchalantly.

But before Lizzie could respond William responded. "Aren't you forgetting Lydia the trouble your two sisters went through to make sure you weren't harmed when Wickham kidnapped you? Or about how I risked my life to make sure you weren't harmed?"

That caused Lydia to grow very quiet. But William wasn't finished. "Let's also not forget how you were one of the girls George was cheating on Lizzie with."

Lydia's face grew beet red and she didn't say anything else. That didn't stop Lizzie's mother though. "Oh! You were the one that rescued Lydia? I'm so thankful. I honestly don't know what I would have done had she not been returned to me! And to think that you did it all for dear Jane here!"

Lizzie closed her eyes and wished the floor would swallow her up. Her mother was being even worse than normal and now it seemed that she had latched onto the part William had said about George cheating on her with Lydia.

"What did I tell you Lizzie? If you don't take more care with yourself the man will stray. Because you are more concerned about your career than the man you were dating it caused him to run to your younger sister to find solace and cause him to leave you."

Lizzie felt on the verge of tears. This was the reason she had left home. Her mother constantly berated her and put her down and when she turned 18 she couldn't handle it anymore. So the morning of her 18th birthday she packed up all her belongings and moved to the city to live with Jane.

It seemed that Mrs. Bennet would have continued if William hadn't finally snapped. "If you will excuse me, Mrs. Bennet, I have a few things I would like to say."

Mrs. Bennet quickly shut her mouth. William continued when he saw that he had everyone's attention.

"One, I will not stand for you to criticize Elizabeth in my home. She has done nothing to deserve it. Two, she is my girlfriend, not Jane. So please stop talking like Jane and I are dating even though we've both told you we are not! Three, you need to have your facts straight before you start spreading false rumors about some things. I think Elizabeth is one of the most beautiful people I know, inside and out. This also ties into the first thing I said: I will not stand by allowing you to criticize Elizabeth. And four, I am asking you to leave now. None of you or the rest of your family were invited here. I might have asked you all to stay but since your arrival you have shown such horrible manners and treated my girlfriend so abominably for which I will not tolerate." Having said all this, William firmly put his arm around Elizabeth for support and to make sure she would not run away.

His speech effectively shut Mrs. Bennet up. He looked at each of the uninvited guests in turn, spending particular time on Mrs. Bennet and Lydia since they were the one's that had upset him so much. Kitty and Mary he just skimmed over because he could tell that they had only come because they were probably forced to.

"Mrs. Bennet, I think it's time you left."

Before Mrs. Bennet reached the door, she called Mr. Bennet and said, "Well I never! I can't believe how he treated us! I'm glad he's dating Lizzie. She deserves someone like him! So disagreeable and mean, throwing us out without inviting us to stay for a while."

Mr. Bennet was confused at first and then realized what Mrs. Bennet was talking about. That last statement is the straw that broke the camels back with Mr. Bennet.

"Mrs. Bennet! I will ask you to stop now. Mr. Darcy is completely right. You have no business being there and you have acted abominably in his home. Even after he asked you to stop. As it is, he has every right to ask you to leave and to never let you come back!"

Mrs. Bennet had dumbly left her phone on speaker phone, so everyone could hear what he said. Mr. Bennet continued, but his voice faded as they went further down the hall.

After the Bennet's departed, everyone left William and Lizzie alone. Once the door had closed behind them, William rushed to Lizzie's side and crushed her into his embrace. The floodgates opened and she sobbed into his shirt.

She cried for a while; she cried for her embarrassment; she cried for what her mother had said; she cried for the fact that her father exerted no control over her mother; and she cried for the fact that even after all that William was sitting with her comforting her.

Once her sobs had quieted down Lizzie leaned back and without looking in his eyes said, "I'm so sorry for my family. I've never seen them behave so badly in public before and I'm so embarrassed. I completely understand if you want to break up with me and want Jane and I to leave."

"Lizzie, my hear, dearest Lizzie," William whispered into her hair as he pulled her close again. "You aren't going anywhere. You can't control your mother. She behaved horribly toward you. So don't shed any tears over what she said because it's not true."

William leaned back, tilted her head up, and claimed her lips for a very chaste kiss. "Don't worry about what your mother said. I love you just the way you are."

Lizzie nodded, then her eyes got large as she realized what he said. "You…you love me?"

William blushed and he nodded. "I know it hasn't been that long, almost two months. But I really do love you."

This brought fresh tears to her eyes and caused William to start to panic. He thought he had said something wrong and started to apologize but Lizzie silenced him by saying, "These are happy tears."

William broke out into a smile and kissed her again, this one full of promise. Once they broke apart William said again, "I love you, Lizzie."

Lizzie smiled and whispered back, "I think I love you too."

William kissed her again and gathered her in his arms to take her upstairs to his bedroom to prove just how much he loved her.


	26. Pemberley, Day 3

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…unfortunately…

The next day dawned with Lizzie sitting on the bed in her room thinking. She still felt horrible about the spectacle her family had made of themselves. But that wasn't the main thing that was on her mind. Her thoughts were occupied with William.

It was a huge step for the two of them to admit loving each other after only a short amount of time that they had known each other. If she was honest with herself, she was scared. She hadn't dated seriously since Wickham had betrayed her and when she dated him she thought it was love. He also admitted his love for her early in the relationship. But Lizzie knew William wasn't anything like Wickham. William was a gentlemen, caring, and generous while Wickham was a self-absorbed bastard.

Lizzie sighed. "I just need to stop thinking and trying to analyze this too much," she muttered to herself.

"Are your thoughts that bad?" Jane asked from the doorway.

Lizzie spun around to face Jane. "Why do people like sneaking up on me?"

"Sorry," Jane answered looking a little sheepish. "I knocked and I guess you didn't hear."

Jane walked into the room and sat on the bed beside Lizzie. "So do you want to tell me what you were muttering about?"

Lizzie sighed and wondered about the best way to say it. She finally decided that being straightforward and truthful would be the best solution. So she started talking about last night and everything came spilling out: her insecurities about herself, her doubts about the relationship, the speed at which everything was moving, etc. By the end of Lizzie's tirade, Jane knew a lot about Lizzie that she didn't know before.

"You never told me that Mom treated you like that," Jane said, first pointing out the part of Lizzie's speech that dealt with their parents.

"I tried. No offense, but you just couldn't or wouldn't see that Mom treated me horribly and no one would step in to help me. If it hadn't been for the summers and holidays with Aunt Maddie and Uncle Eddie I don't know how I would have survived as long as I did in that house."

Jane didn't really know how to respond to that, so she didn't. Yesterday was the first time she had seen how her mother treated Lizzie. She always knew that her mother was hard on Lizzie; she just didn't realize that she wasn't just hard, she was very cruel. She cleared her throat and asked, "But I don't understand, why do you have so many doubts about your relationship with William? We can all see and observe that he really cares for you Lizzie."

"In all honesty, I don't know. A good portion of it is because of Wickham. He did such a number on me that I'm bound to doubt the opposite sex for the rest of my life. As for the other portion, I don't know what it is."

Lizzie and Jane sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Jane eventually broke the silence with, "It might be because you really do feel strongly about William, just as you thought you did for Wickham, and there's that little voice in the back of your head telling you that it's too good to be true."

After a few more moments of silence, Jane continued, "To be honest, I know how you feel. With Charles I was so swept up with him and what he did to me that I didn't stop to think about how he treated me. He made me feel like I was the only woman in the world when I was with him, but now that I've distanced myself from him, I understand that while he may have been a great guy when we were dating, the way he treated me towards the end of our very short romance is not in his favor. Even when I was at my happiest with him, I would have this little voice whispering things to me, telling me I needed to be more careful. I completely ignored it and look where it got me."

Lizzie looked like she was going to say something, but Jane held her hand up and continued, "But unlike you, I hadn't been burned yet. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't let your time with Wickham spoil what looks like a great relationship with William. And if you do let him spoil it, you are a fool. William is the best thing that's happened to you in a long time and you don't need to give that up."

"Well, while we're on the topic of men," Lizzie said slyly, "what about Richard?"

Jane blushed and asked, "What about him?"

"I think it's obvious to everyone within a fifty mile radius that he has some feelings for you that extend past you being his niece's teacher."

"Lizzie! I don't want to get into a relationship so soon after Charles and I don't think he views me in that way."

"Just like the way William and I see each other as platonic friends? Right," Lizzie said sarcastically.

"Why are we even discussing this?" Jane asked changing the subject. "I thought we were talking about you and William."

Lizzie smiled at Jane and hugged her. "Thanks Jane," she whispered in her ear before pulling away.

"You are very welcome," Jane said as she stood up and held her hand out for Lizzie to take. "Now, let's go find everyone else and do something fun."

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Richard and Georgiana were easy to find since they were snooping around the kitchen trying to get some food without Mrs. Reynolds finding out. William, however, was a different story. No one seemed to know where he was. They couldn't find him in the house anywhere and he wasn't answering his mobile, so everyone was left to wait for him to come back.

And wait they did. He wasn't back by luncheon, so they ate without him and Richard suggested going into Lambton to look around and do touristy things, which everyone but Lizzie agreed to do. She wanted to wait for William to come back and make sure whatever it was that had called him away wasn't too bad.

She waved to Jane, Richard, and Georgie as they drove away and wandered back into the house. She decided to go to the library to grab a book and then go upstairs to her room for a quick nap. As she searched for her book, she pondered where William could possibly be.

She gave up the search for a book after fifteen minutes when it became obvious that all the books she loved weren't going to hold her attention. She had just closed the door behind her when Mrs. Reynolds walked up to her.

"There you are Miss Bennet," she said.

"Yes Mrs. Reynolds?" Lizzie asked tiredly.

"I was coming to tell you that Mr. Darcy just called to say that he was called away on business this morning and thought he would be back by now. It turns out it's going to require a little more work than he originally thought, so he won't be back until later tonight. He wanted to make sure you weren't too terribly worried. He rushed out in such a hurry this morning that he didn't have a chance to write a note for anyone and it quite slipped my mind to tell everyone."

Lizzie smiled. It was the first good news she had heard all day. "Thank you Mrs. Reynolds," she said as she hugged the woman.

Mrs. Reynolds chuckled as she watched Lizzie climb the stairs. Lizzie walked into her room and immediately fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Lizzie was awakened a few hours later by Jane, who had come to tell her that dinner was ready. Lizzie quickly rubbed the sleep from her eyes and checked her appearance in the mirror and then followed Jane downstairs.

When she entered the dining room, she eagerly looked around, hoping to see William. But when she saw that he wasn't there, her face fell. It was apparent that he hadn't returned yet. Lizzie sighed and took her place at the table.

This dinner was very different from the night before. While everyone knew of the message from Mrs. Reynolds, they all wanted William to be with them. The night before had been full of laughter and this night was full of worry since the business that had taken William away was taking so long.

After dinner was finished, everyone went their own way and didn't dally over the table. Lizzie walked into her room and got ready for bed. Lizzie wasn't really tired, so she decided to wander the house a little and do some exploring. She wandered down the hall outside her room and looked at the portraits on the walls.

By the time she had wandered the entire floor that her room was on, it was eleven o'clock and she was ready for bed. Lizzie quickly walked back to her room and snuggled under the covers. She was asleep moments later.

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Around one o'clock, two hours after Lizzie had gone to bed, William returned to the house. He had had a very good day taking care of some matters of business. While it had taken longer than he had expected, he was glad it was out of the way because that meant he could devote the remainder of his stay to entertaining his guests.

William bounded up the stairs with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to see Lizzie. When he got to her door, he noticed that there wasn't any light on in the room, so she was asleep. Because of that, he quietly opened the door and crept into the room, trying not to make a sound as he shut the door and walked to the bed.

He smiled when he saw Lizzie laying there. She looked so childlike curled up in a little ball. William bent down and lightly kissed her on the forehead, causing her to start to stir. Lizzie slowly opened her eyes and looked unseeingly at William.

When he eyes cleared, she looked at him and sleepily asked, "William?"

"Yes," he said leaning down to steal another kiss.

Lizzie pulled back so he couldn't kiss her and sleepily asked, "What time is it?"

"Late. Or early, depending on how you look at it," he replied with a smile

Lizzie just grunted in response. William chuckled and stood up. He placed another kiss on her forehead and started across the room to go into his. When he walked back into the room, Lizzie was already asleep again.

William crawled under the covers and pulled Lizzie to him and fell asleep fairly quickly.


	27. Pemberley, Day 4

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it. Never will.

**A/N:** Forgot to mention this in my last post. My semester started last week, so my schedule has changed. I'm going to try and post regularly on Fridays from now on. If for some reason that doesn't work out one week, I'll post a note letting you know when it will be added. Thanks for the reviews you guys. They really do motivate me to keep writing (especially when my head hurts trying to think up plot things). I hope you guys keep reviewing. For those you of who haven't reviewed because that's not your thing or you're just scared or something like that, I have a little incentive for you. If you decided to review my story for the _**first**_ time (first time only) and you let me know (I will check by the way) you can tell me a word and I'll write a short little drabble in honor of you. What that means is I'll write a P&P shortie (about 200 words max) using the word you tell me predominantly. You'll get the shortie to yourself for about two days at which point I will post it for everyone else to see. I have an example that I'm going to try and post later today so you guys know what I mean. It's called "Dirty Fantasy." I'll probably rate it M, but it doesn't involve sex. It's just the innuendo involved. Also with this, you can pick your rating: G, PG, PG-13, R. So…start reviewing!

Lizzie sighed as she opened her eyes the next morning. She could feel William's arm around her waist and she felt content. But along with this feeling of contentedness, she could feel a strange sense of foreboding, like it wasn't meant to last.

She sighed again and rolled over to look at William. He looked so cute when he was asleep. His hair was tussled, he had the beginnings of a beard on his face, and he looked relaxed and stress free. She loved seeing him like this.

Lizzie reached her hand out and lightly traced the contours of his face. She quietly giggled when she saw his face twitch at her touch. She continued to gently trace his face, slowly waking him up and stopped when he opened his eyes.

"Morning sunshine," Lizzie said softly.

Will replied with a grunt as he shut his eyes again. Lizzie leaned in and lightly blew on his face, causing him to open his eyes again. She raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked her sleepily.

"Can't I want to just wake you up to be with you?" she asked innocently.

"You can be awake and me asleep and still be with me," he responded, closing his eyes again.

Lizzie huffed. She leaned in and started to pepper his face with kisses, causing him to awake fully. When she stopped, he groaned, "Are you happy now?"

"Yes," she said as she leaned in to kiss him on the mouth.

What she intended to be a light peck turned into a deep kiss when William's arms ended up around her. After a few moments of kissing, she managed to break away and say, "I woke you up for a different reason."

"And what reason is that?" he asked her distractedly as he started kissing her neck.

"You promised me a day to ourselves. I want today to be that day."

William stopped kissing her neck and looked at her. "What do you want to do?"

"It doesn't matter. We can lay in bed all day for all I care. Although, I would prefer to not stay in bed all day. I was thinking maybe we could drive somewhere and have a picnic and spend the day sightseeing or something."

"I think it's manageable," he responded, starting to kiss her neck again.

"Well, if it's manageable, get up! We've got to get moving!" Lizzie stated wiggling from his grasp and across the bed.

When she didn't hear William moving to get off the bed, she turned back around to see him looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Why aren't you moving?"

"I would like something to get me through the day," he said.

Lizzie mockingly sighed and rolled her eyes, saying, "I think I can manage that."

She crawled back into bed and the two of them were a delayed a little longer getting up.

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By the time William and Lizzie decided to leave the bed, the other three people had already eaten breakfast and were just leaving the dining room when William and Lizzie were walking in.

"Finally!" Richard said mockingly.

William raised an eyebrow as Richard continued, "I honestly thought the foundations of the house wouldn't hold up!"

Georgie gasped and Lizzie turned red. Jane swatted Richard on the arm while glaring at him saying, "He's just joking."

"No I'm not," he said seriously.

"You're just jealous," William said as he sat at the table and starting piling his plate with food.

"Me? Jealous? Pfft," was the reply.

"No, Richard, I think he's right," Jane said mischievously.

Richard looked shocked. "Why would I be jealous of him?"

Suddenly Georgie exclaimed, "Please wait until I leave the room to finish that statement!"

Everyone looked at her and then burst into laughter. Richard walked over to Georgie and squeezed her. "Georgie, you are going to have to one day accept that your brother is…a sex god."

Georgie looked disgusted. "He can be a sex god as long as he wants as long as I don't hear any details about it."

With that she quickly left the room leaving everyone in a dumbfounded silence. A few seconds after she left, everyone burst into laughter. Once it had quieted down somewhat, William said, "I can understand where she's coming from. I'd rather not know about her escapades as a sex goddess, if in fact she is one."

This caused another round of laughter. A few minutes later Richard and Jane left vaguely saying what they were doing, causing William and Lizzie to exchange a look.

"Do you think?" Lizzie started.

"Possibly," William shrugged. "I asked him to keep his distance because of the recent break up with Charles, though it doesn't look like he's listening."

"Yeah, it definitely seems that way."

They finished their breakfast in silence and then went to get their things ready for their day away from the estate.

-------------------------------------------------

Once Jane and Richard left the dining room, they went their separate ways, agreeing to meet in the front hall in fifteen minutes. When Jane reached her room and shut the door behind her, she let out a little giggle and sighed. She had intended to use this vacation as a time where she could distance herself from her relationship with Charles and relax. It seemed that she might be distancing herself from Charles, but not necessarily relaxing.

She felt tense when in Richard's presence, but in a good way. Jane quickly went across the room to change into something that would be more fitting for the ride Richard had planned. She quickly changed into riding trousers and a different shirt and pulled on some boots.

When she arrived in the front hall, she noticed a car leaving the property and wondered who it was. Suddenly she heard Richard say, "William and Lizzie planned a little picnic at an estate near here. That's who you saw leaving."

Her mouth formed an "o" and she turned to look at him. He gallantly offered her his arm and said, "Are you ready mademoiselle?"

Jane nodded and the two of them made their way towards the stable. The horses where already saddled, so they were able to get on and make their way to one of the trails. They spent the next few hours riding and talking about a lot of things.

Around midday, Richard found a shaded grove for them to eat in and set everything up. Once they were settled he asked, "What do you think of Darcy's Pemberley?"

"It's amazing. You would never be able to tell how wealthy he is just by being around him. He's quite humble in that way," Jane responded.

"He's always been like that. He doesn't appreciate the women that throw themselves at him just because he's worth millions. While he does dress to the nines in all designer duds, he doesn't like to flaunt the fact that he could buy a small country."

Jane nodded, but didn't say anything. Richard continued, "I think that's one of the reason's he loves Lizzie so much. She doesn't seem to care about all that. I can honestly say that I think they would still be together if both of them were destitute and living in the gutter."

"Well, maybe not if they were living in the gutter because that would make life harder," Jane said.

Richard nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence while they ate. After they finished and had packed everything up, they started to head back to the stables. They were both sore from riding and knew that the next day would be interesting for them.

The ride back was just as enjoyable as the ride there: filled with comfortable conversation. As they neared the stables, Richard stopped his horse, causing Jane's horse to stop as well.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked.

"Nothing," Richard said. "I have a question for you."

Jane looked at him expectantly and waited. Richard cleared his throat and looked around nervously.

"Richard, please tell me what's on your mind."

"Jane, I know we are newly acquainted. And believe me, Darcy has pre-warned me about your recent break up with Bingley. But... I was just wondering... ?"

"Yes?"

"Would you be willing to go out to dinner with me? As friends... that is?

Jane giggled.

"Well... would you? I would like to get to know you better? It wouldn't be a date. Just dinner with a friend."

"Richard, I would love to go out to dinner with you... as a friend. I do enjoy your company."

He took a deep breath in sighing, "Great."

Jane laughed again and a few minutes later they reached the stables and dismounted. They walked back to the house, both wondering whether Darcy and Lizzie were back yet. As they walked in the house, it didn't take long for them to figure out that Darcy and Lizzie weren't back because Richard suddenly heard a very familiar voice cry:

"Where is he?! Where is my nephew?!"


	28. The Witch has Come

**A/N**: Quick note. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. There's a scene at the end (you'll recognize it) that I really needed to put in here, but couldn't really think of a better way to include it, so this is the result. I hope you don't try to kill me for it, but it was needed for the story to move along so it's not drug out for a lot of chapters. Please tell me your opinions (no flames please!). So there's my apology for the end of this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it…

Richard froze and let out a long sigh. "I can't believe she's here," he muttered to himself.

"Who is that?" Jane whispered to him.

"That is my Aunt Catherine, better known as Lady Catherine de Bourgh," Richard told her as he started to walk towards the sound of her voice.

As the two of them got closer, Lady Catherine's voice kept getting louder and louder until when they finally got in the room, they were both surprised to not see any of the delicate figurines shattered on the floor from the sheer volume of Lady Catherine's yells.

When she saw Richard, her voice quieted somewhat, but she still remained indignant. "Where is Fitzwilliam?" she demanded not bothering to pay any attention to Jane.

Richard cleared his throat and said, "I believe he is off the property at this particular moment. He and Elizabeth decided they wanted to do some sightseeing."

"So it's true then. He's living with some trollop?"

"Some trollop?!" Richard asked her incredulously.

Jane started indignantly at hearing her sister spoken of in that way.

"Yes. I heard a report that he was living in sin with some upstart and that she was ensnaring him and that any day now they would be getting married."

Richard glared at Lady Catherine as he tried to control his temper. While he knew his aunt and was well aware of her thoughts on just about all matters, what she was saying truly baffled him. He never realized just how outdated her thoughts were.

"Aunt Catherine, I don't know where you got your report from, but Darcy is not living with someone in sin. In fact, he's not living with anyone."

"Then what is this I hear about some trollop and her sister staying here at Pemberley?"

"Richard?!" Jane asked.

Richard quickly glanced at Jane and then said, "There are two ladies here on vacation with Darcy, Georgie, and I. The five of us will be going back to London at the end of the week. In fact, let me introduce you to Jane Bennet here..."

Before Lady Catherine could make another comment, the three of them heard the front door slam and quick footsteps coming down the hall. Richard and Jane turned around in time to see William rushing down the hall with Lizzie on his heels looking quite confused.

Before William could get a word out, Lady Catherine said, "What are you doing with these people in your house?!"

"They are my guests Aunt Catherine," William responded, gently tugging Lizzie into the room. "The lady with Richard is Miss Jane Bennet and this lady right here is my girlfriend, Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

Jane and Lizzie both murmured their greetings to Lady Catherine, but she continued to ignore them.

"I would speak privately with you, Fitzwilliam," Lady Catherine said in a voice the brooked no argument.

"I see no reason for a private interview. Whatever you wish to say you can say in front of my guests."

Lady Catherine eyed everyone and then said, "Very well. If that is the way you want, that's fine by me. I can kill two birds with one stone."

She paused for dramatic affect, causing everyone to start wondering what she wanted to say. After a few moments, they unfortunately found out, "I came here to talk to you because I had heard that you were dating some upstart that was ensnaring you and the two of you were almost engaged. I knew this couldn't be true since it has long been talked about that you would marry Anne. But when I was told that you were living with her, I knew I had to come and talk some sense into you. This won't do you or Anne's reputation any good to have you living with your mistress. I also came to tell you it's time you did your duty to Anne and set the wedding date. I know that you young men like to sow your wild oats, but the time has come for you to stop and start your family."

Everyone looked at Lady Catherine with a dumbfounded look on their face. Jane and Lizzie had never heard of anything of the sort. Jane looked at Lizzie to see what her reaction was and saw that she was very upset with the news, causing Jane to realize that William obviously hadn't mentioned this to Lizzie.

Lizzie was just standing in shocked silence. She didn't really know what to think. She was upset that this woman was saying something like this about William and didn't know whether she should believe her or not. Although, judging by the look on William's face, it looked like it could be true.

Richard, while normally finding the humor in situations like this, found absolutely none. He couldn't believe the audacity of his aunt to come here and try to dictate to William what he should and shouldn't do with his life. He was desperately hoping William would speak up and finally set their aunt straight on her mistaken belief of him ever marrying Anne.

William was trying desperately to keep his anger under control. He knew it wouldn't be good for him to lose his temper in this delicate situation. He was sure he would be having a conversation with Lizzie later tonight about what his aunt had just said because he didn't have a chance to tell her about his aunt's wild idea that he should marry her adopted daughter.

William visibly swallowed and said, "Aunt Catherine, I do not know why it is that you think you have any say so in what I do in my private life, but let me tell you right now that you have none-"

Before he could continue, Lady Catherine interrupted him, "No say so in your life! I am your closest living relation! Of course I have some say so in your life! I know that you wanted to wait a while before settling down, but the time has come for you to do what is right. This whore has obviously addled your brain. It is time you broke it off with her and claimed your rightful place: the husband of my daughter Anne and one of the richest men in England."

Lizzie gasped and blinked her eyes in confusion. She felt her sister's hand squeezing her own, but on her other side, she felt nothing where she wanted desperately to sense William's presence, but he had moved slightly away from her, as if signaling a desire to distance himself from the situation, and her. Normally Lizzie would take this opportunity to say exactly what was on her mind, but she felt that she was too emotional at this point to be able to control herself. So without a word, she turned around and left the room, leaving a bewildered William behind. He watched as Jane caught up with her and walked with her up the stairs and out of his sight.

William turned back to Lady Catherine and said, "I want you to listen to me very carefully Aunt Catherine: I will not tolerate you coming into my house and upsetting my guests like that, especially Elizabeth. I am a grown man. I do not answer to you or anyone. The only person I answer to is God and seeing as how you are not him, I do not see any reason for you to be here instructing me on how my life should be lived. I will have you know that I have never had any intention of marrying Anne, which she already knows. And before you say anything, yes we have talked about it. I know the reason why we could never marry, but I know you do not. I would suggest you talk to Anne to find that reason out. But even if that reason wasn't there, I would never marry her because my feelings for Anne are that she is my cousin, the same I feel for Georgie being my sister. I have nothing more than a brotherly affection for her."

Here William paused to catch his breath and his composure. After a few moments of silence he said, "I would appreciate it if you would remove yourself from my property."

Lady Catherine was incensed. "You would treat me, your aunt and your mother's sister in this fashion for some trollop! I will have you know that should you decide to marry your whore you will never be accepted into polite society. I will make certain of that. I will make sure to tell everyone that you jilted your intended bride and decided to marry your mistress instead. I'll probably also mention that the only reason you married her is because she was carrying your bastard child."

"Aunt Catherine!" Richard yelled. "I think it would be a good idea for you to leave now before you are forced to leave," Richard told her while coming to stand between her and William.

Lady Catherine sniffed and regally exited the room. A few seconds later they heard the front door close and they both released a sigh of relief.

"I think I had better go call my father," Richard said as he made his way out of the room. "Don't worry about it Will. If she says anything, she'll be made to look the fool when everyone sees that she is spreading lies."

William looked surprised at Richard. "You haven't called me Will in a long time. Not since Cambridge."

Richard just shrugged and said, "It just felt appropriate." He left the room, leaving William to sit by himself for a little while. William used the next few minutes to compose himself before he decided that he was long overdue upstairs.

William slowly started to make his way through the house to Lizzie's room. He dreaded the conversation he was about to have. As he got nearer to Lizzie's room, he could hear sobs coming from within, causing him to stop outside the door and listen for a few seconds. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Jane answered it almost immediately. "She's pretty upset and she wants to leave tonight to go back to London."

"What?" William asked disbelievingly.

Jane nodded and continued, "She wanted to leave before you got a chance to talk to her, but I convinced her to stay and listen to what you had to say."

"Thank you," William said softly.

Jane nodded again and made her way down the hall to her room. William walked into Lizzie's room and shut the door behind him, facing it for a few seconds before he turned around to face the woman he loved.

What he saw caused his heart to break. Lizzie was laying on the bed sobbing and it was obvious to see that what Lady Catherine had said she had taken to heart. William sighed and made his way to the bed, sitting down beside her. He looked down at her and saw that she was staring at him. What he immediately noticed was that while she had calmed herself a little and was still crying, her eyes lacked their usual sparkle and the expression of love he so often saw in her eyes was no longer there. William started to reach out and touch her, but she flinched when she saw his intent, causing him to immediately pull his hand back.

"I'm so sorry you had to find out about everything like that," he started.

Lizzie snorted. "Why should you be? It just saved you the trouble of having to do the dirty work."

"Lizzie, it's not like that at all."

"William, in all honesty, I don't want to hear it. The only reason I am still here is because Jane insisted that I stay long enough to hear what you have to say. I already know how I feel and nothing you say will change that feeling. I feel used and dirty and betrayed. Even if what she said is not true, how could you not trust me enough to at least tell me something like that?"

William didn't know how to answer her and just shrugged. He knew she was right and he knew that this conversation was out of his control. "Lizzie, you have no idea how sorry I am that you had to hear what she said. I realize that I should have told you about her, but I honestly didn't think vacation was the right time. I was going to tell you when we got back."

"What were you going to tell me William? That you're engaged to be married and that I'm your mistress? Or were you just going to keep putting it off until another of your relatives had the heart to break the news to me? Or maybe I was just going to be the family secret. Does Richard know about Anne?"

"Yes, of course." William answered her before he thought about what it implied. "I mean, he knows Anne, we all do." Lizzie's jaw dropped and she scurried across the bed, but was stopped by William's hand. "I'm not marrying Anne, Lizzie. Richard knows that, too."

"Right. He's on your side, naturally. But how many others are on Anne's side?" Lizzie pried his grip from her arm and continued to the other side of the bed, where she stood, arms crossed. "Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I for one do not appreciate it. I thought you were different. I guess I was wrong."

"Lizzie, Anne is a family friend, nothing more. I've known her for years. On occasion we have dinner together, but as friends, nothing more. My Aunt had this bright idea that I would marry Anne because she's the perfect socialite, the ultimate aspiration as they're both concerned. She planted the idea in my uncle's head, which he laughed at, by the way, because he knows me. I don't love Anne. Lizzie, I love _you_. Come on, my Aunt does not control me, and she certainly has no influence over my love life."

"No, just your marital life."

"For the last time, Lizzie, I am not marrying Anne."

"No, not now, because the cat's out of the bag. You'll have to find some other rich socialite to marry, while you keep me on the side for fun." Lizzie wished he would leave her in peace, as she just wanted to be alone with her heartache. That it had come on the heels of such a wonderful day together only added to the pain.

William's jaw was beginning to hurt from clenching it. "If that's what you truly think of me, what you think me capable of, then what else can I say?" He dropped his gaze, and with a deep sigh, stood up.

Lizzie backed up a step or two. She was sure that if he came any closer he would be able to hear the pounding of her heart. As if he sensed her fear, William made a move toward the door, before pausing and stating quietly over his shoulder, "Know that I love you with all my heart, but that I won't stay here when you so obviously wish to be alone. I'll have a car readied if you want to leave tonight."

With that he let himself into his room through the connecting door closing it quietly but firmly behind him. On each side of the door, William and Lizzie each crumpled, each with the thought that they were losing the greatest love of their lives.


	29. Broken Hearts

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it…

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay. I had a major case of writer's block and my teachers take delight in having something due every day of class. So…yeah, I've been busy. But, thankfully I've gotten this written and posted. FYI: this story is nearing the end. I have an idea of how many chapters are left, not positive on the number, but it will be over in the next few posts. So lets hope that I don't anymore bad writer's block!

The next day dawned a little too brightly to Darcy. He had a horrible night and he hadn't gotten much sleep because he knew that Lizzie wouldn't stay the rest of the week. He sighed as he opened his eyes and sat up.

While walking to the in-suite bathroom, he rubbed the heel of his hand across his eyes. When he got in the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He looked horrible. It was obvious that he hadn't gotten a good night sleep and nothing he could do would change what he looked like: death warmed over.

He quickly turned the shower on and stepped in, vigorously cleaning himself. It was like he thought he could wash away what had happened the night before by scrubbing himself until he was bright red.

A few minutes later, he climbed out of the shower and got dressed, slowly making his way downstairs. When he entered the breakfast room, he was met with a very angry Georgiana and a surprisingly quiet Richard.

"Good morning," Darcy said while putting food on his plate.

"It is morning, though I don't think it's a good one," Georgie said looking at Darcy angrily.

Darcy looked at her and waited for her to explain where her ire was coming from. A few seconds later he got his reward when she said, "How could you let Aunt Catherine say all those things in front of Lizzie and Jane?!"

Darcy sighed and didn't say anything. Georgie continued by saying, "I mean, you know what she's like! She thinks you should date and marry Anne and won't listen to anything you say and you still let the two of them be exposed to her!"

Georgie continued on her tirade for a few minutes and when she finally ran out of steam, sat in her chair breathing heavily. The silence hung in the room thickly. No one was willing to break it. Finally Georgie broke it again by saying, "Well, do you have anything to say for yourself Will?"

"Not really," he replied.

"Will!" Georgie exclaimed. "You need to be serious!"

"I am being serious. Lizzie left last night to go back to London. Right now, I can't do anything to fix this situation. I refuse to do it any other way besides in person and I think we both could use a day or so away from each other before we talk again."

"But Will—" Georgie started.

"Georgie, I think you should leave it alone for the time being," Richard softly told her when he saw the wretched look on Darcy's face.

Georgie glanced at her brother and saw that Richard was right and let the subject rest. The rest of the meal was passed in silence and once everyone finished eating, they all went their separate ways.

---------------------------------------------------

Lizzie awoke that same morning not feeling much better than Darcy had. Once she had gotten back to her apartment the night before, she couldn't fall asleep because of her discussion with him and had ended up thinking about it way too much. But all of the thinking caused her to realize that she had been a little irrational in her reaction to the information that Lady Catherine had announced to everyone. She now realized that Lady Catherine didn't care about anyone's life besides herself unless it suited her and it was obvious Lizzie wasn't anyone of significance to her.

Lizzie now wished she had stayed the night at Pemberley so she and Darcy could have a talk about the day before and so she could apologize to him for her somewhat childish reaction. But she had stupidly let her temper rule her thoughts and actions, causing her to flee the night before. Now she was forced to wait until he got back to the city or she could get a hold of him on his cell before everything could be worked through.

She slowly got out of bed and made her way into the bathroom. After turning the water on, she turned to the mirror and looked at herself, not liking what she saw. She saw a woman that had experienced everything that was wonderful in a man with her for a few blissful weeks then in a fit of anger had pushed that greatness away because of what some batty old woman said.

Lizzie climbed into the shower, wishing (though knowing it wouldn't happen) that the water would just wash away her worries and make everything better again.

A little while later, she climbed out and after drying off and wrapping a towel around her, walked into the kitchen to flip through the mail that had piled up the few days she had been away. She paused when she saw one from her publisher.

She quickly opened it and gasped when she saw what it stated. It seems that the higher ups wanted her to start a book tour promoting her published books and the teen series she was starting to work on, giving out small samples. It was to take the better part of six months and it would encompass part of Europe and the United States.

Lizzie turned and walked immediately down the hall to Jane's room, knocking on the door. Jane quickly opened it and after looking at Lizzie asked, "What's wrong?!"

"Read this!" she said, thrusting the letter into Jane's hands.

Jane cautiously scanned the letter and let out a small shriek when she saw what they were asking her to do.

"Lizzie! This is amazing! This will help you so much!"

"I know!" Lizzie told her, pulling her into a hug.

"I guess I should get dressed and go see my publisher. I need to get this started as soon as possible…" Lizzie started to mumble to herself as she walked down the hall.

But before she could walk into her room, Jane called down the hall after her, "What about William?"

Lizzie stopped and looked back at Jane. "I'll call him once I've dressed to see if we can meet soon."

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After Lizzie dressed, she did call Darcy, but she was unable to talk to him because he had gotten an urgent call stating that he was needed in one of his Middle Eastern holdings for a problem. He had left soon after he had eaten breakfast and had tried to call Lizzie, but couldn't get through on any of her phones to leave a message stating where he was going.

Lizzie did leave a message with his secretary, but Darcy would never get the message because Lady Catherine made sure that the secretary knew to disregard any message left by a Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

So it worked out that the two of them left the country without either of them knowing it. It would be a long time before the two of them saw each other again and when they did see each other again, there wouldn't be incredibly amiable feelings on either side.


	30. Six Months Later

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it…

**A/N:** I have a huge apology. For the last two weeks real life intruded big time into my life, so I've had papers and tests to prepare for and do, I dropped my printer and spent an entire day fixing that, a mildly stalkerish freshman that I had to take care of, and a few other things. So, needless to say, I had a little trouble getting this written. So for those you of reading, I'm glad you stuck with me and this story is almost over…

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_Six months later_

Lizzie sighed as she let herself into her apartment. It had been a long six months and she was ready to take some time off. While she had been on her tour she had enjoyed herself, but she found herself constantly thinking about Will. Even though they hadn't parted on the best of terms and she hadn't seen him, she loved him just as much as she did the last time she saw him. But now that she was back in England, she didn't know what to do.

She had spent a good portion of her time away trying to figure out how to get in touch with Will so she could apologize. But she honestly didn't know what to do. She knew from talking with Jane, who had become really good friends with Richard while she was gone, that Will had been in a constant bad mood. Lizzie thought that he had gotten her message, but didn't care. Will thought the same thing of Lizzie. He had called and left a message on her mobile, but what he didn't know was that when he called her, her phone had been lost and she never got the message.

So essentially they were both living with false thoughts about the other.

As Lizzie made her he way back to her room, she noticed the light on her phone blinking, signaling she had a message. She put her bags down and logged onto her voicemail system. The message was from Jane, who welcomed her home and said, "I know you're super tired, but could you please come to the benefit I'm attending with Richard tonight? If you don't come, I'll understand because you are tired. But I really want you to come." Jane then outlined where she needed to be and at what time.

Lizzie shook her head at Jane. While she didn't really want to go out, she figured she could go for a little while and then head back home to sleep.

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Lizzie paid the cab driver and made her way up the steps to the center where the benefit was being held. She paused momentarily to give her name to the person at the door and then made her way inside.

As she entered the room, she looked around trying to find Jane. A few minutes later as she was walking the edge of the room, she spotted her and Richard sitting at a table conversing.

When Lizzie reached the table, she dryly said, "I see that you aren't as excited to see me as I thought."

Jane and Richard jumped and turned to look at Lizzie.

"Lizzie!" Jane exclaimed. "I wasn't sure that you would come."

Lizzie then found herself enfolded in a hug with a vice like grip by Jane. After a few moments Lizzie managed to wheeze out, "Jane, you're crushing my ribs."

Jane immediately let Lizzie go and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Guess I was a little excited."

"A little?" Richard asked, quirking an eyebrow, as he gave Lizzie a much lighter hug.

Jane just shrugged. "Anyways, tell me about everything!"

"Jane!" Lizzie laughed, "I talked to you the entire time I was away."

"I know, but I want to hear about it again."

Lizzie just shook her head and started to talk about some of the things she had done while she was away. The three of them were so involved in their conversation that they didn't realize that someone had walked up until they timidly cleared their throat. They all turned to look at who it was.

"Hi," Georgie said timidly.

Lizzie broke into a big smile when she saw her and immediately stood up to give her a hug.

"How are you?" Lizzie asked her after she released her.

"I'm good. You?"

"Now that I'm back home, I'm much better," Lizzie said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Where were you?" Georgie asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"I was on a book tour. You should know that," Lizzie said just as confused.

"No, Will hasn't mentioned anything of the sort. No one has actually. We all thought that you just left."

Lizzie's face fell. "You mean that no one realized that I was gone for work?"

Georgie just shook her head. "Will thought that you were so angry with him that you changed your numbers or just refused to answer anything from him."

"But I called—" Lizzie softly said.

Jane and Richard looked over at the two of them when they didn't hear them talking anymore. Jane got an alarmed look on her face when she saw Lizzie.

"Lizzie, what's wrong?" Jane asked as she put a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"No one knew I was gone besides you two and our family."

Realization dawned on Jane and Richard's faces. "Oh no," Jane breathed.

"Excuse me," Lizzie mumbled as she abruptly stood and walked away.

Georgie watched her leave. "I hope I haven't upset her," she said with tears in her eyes.

"No dear one," Richard said. "She thought that Will had gotten her message about the tour and that she had to leave immediately. You telling her that he didn't receive it has really upset her."

Georgie nodded that she understood. "Now," he continued, "I assume you came with your brother. Where is he?"

Georgie pointed towards the area of the bar. Richard nodded to the two of them and started to weave his way through the crowd to find Will.

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Lizzie tried to calm herself in the bathroom. She sat on one of the couches with her head in her hands as she took deep breaths. She couldn't believe that Will hadn't gotten her message. It was a little shocking.

She hoped that she could help to set him straight on everything. It was obvious from the way Georgie was talking that he assumed she had just left. The situation just wasn't good.

After a few minutes she thought she had calmed down enough to go back to her table. She quickly looked in the mirror and besides looking pale, she looked fine. She opened the door and walked right into someone.

"Oomph!" she exhaled as she bounced back.

Whomever she ran into wrapped their arms around her to keep her from falling backwards. As their hands touched her skin, she felt tingles start to race up and down her spine. She knew of only one person that had ever made her feel like that: William Darcy.

Sure enough, when she glanced up, she was met with his hardened gaze.

"Lizzie," he clipped out as he quickly released her.

"Will," she said somewhat breathlessly. "I was—"

"Will! There you are!" Richard said as he made his was over. "I've been looking for you for the past ten minutes."

"Well now you've found me. What is it?" he barked out.

Richard sent Lizzie an apologetic look as he led Will away. He had been hoping to avoid having them meet until he had had a chance to talk to Will about Lizzie being gone. He felt kind of bad because he had never mentioned Lizzie's tour because he thought Will already knew.

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Richard led Will a little ways from the crowd so he could talk to him. When they were far enough away, Richard stopped and turned to face Will.

"I need to talk to you about Lizzie," Richard started.

"There's nothing to talk about," Will said, cutting Richard off.

"Yes, there is Will. There are some things you don't know about what happened six months ago."

"I highly doubt that whatever you say is going to influence my opinion in the matter. She left Pemberley without saying goodbye and never returned any of my calls. I think that speaks plainly about what she thinks of me," Will said. He then turned from Richard so he could walk away.

Before he could get very far, he felt Richard grab his arm and turn him back around. "I'm trying to talk to you! Lizzie left six months ago because of a book tour. She called you and left a message with your secretary, Margaret, who she thought had given you the message. It turns out Margaret didn't give you the message and it seems like the message you left for her got lost in translation somehow."

Richard paused for a moment to catch his breath and to calm himself down. After a few deep breaths, he continued. "Lizzie was devastated when you didn't contact her. She talked to Jane about it, who in turn talked to me. I tried to bring it up with you, but every time the conversation seemed to head in that direction you would immediately change the subject, so I never got the chance to talk to you about it. I eventually learned to keep my mouth shut since you didn't want to talk about it. We were all operating under the belief that you had received the message."

Richard watched Will. He could tell that Will was having a little trouble processing what he had just been told. After a few moments, Richard saw the look on Will's face change to one of shame.

"What must she think of me?" Will asked himself. "She probably thinks I'm the biggest ass there is."

"I think she walked out a side door a few minutes ago if you want to go talk to her. I know that she wants to talk to you," Richard told him before walking away.

Will watched him go, then walked towards a terrace door and slipped into the night.

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Lizzie walked in the opposite direction from Will and Richard. She allowed her eyes to follow them for a few minutes and watched Richard start to talk to Will. After a little while, she quietly slipped out of a side door to walk through the enclosed gardens.

She aimlessly wandered down the paths and eventually found herself in what she assumed was the center of the garden because of the fountain with benches surrounding it. She looked at her reflection in the fountains water and then made her way over to a bench to sit down.

Everything was so quiet that she could faintly hear the music from the benefit. Lizzie sighed to herself quietly. She thought it was quite obvious from his reaction to seeing her that he didn't seem to like her that much anymore and she really doubted whether she would be able to explain to him why she left abruptly and apologize for everything.

To her, it all seemed hopeless. She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the person coming up behind her.

"Lizzie," Will said from behind her.

Lizzie stiffened when she heard him speak. She then slowly turned around to look at him.

"Will," she stated.

They both let the silence hang between them for a few moments. Lizzie was the first one to break it.

"I guess I probably won't get another chance to say this, so I'm saying it now. I'm sorry for the way we parted the last time we saw each other. I was upset and I should have waited to talk to you before I left Pemberley. And I'm sorry I haven't called you in the past six months. I thought you had gotten my message about my tour and you just didn't want to talk to me."

Lizzie took a deep breath after her little speech. After a few moments, she hazarded a glance at Will to gauge his reaction. It looked like he was fighting an inner battle from the emotions that were playing across his face. She could see the hurt and anger, but she also saw what she hoped was love.

"I—" Will started in a broken voice. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I missed you so much while we weren't speaking. I thought you had just left or had changed everything so I couldn't get in touch with you. I was desolate without you in my life. I am so sorry for everything that you heard the last time we spoke. You didn't deserve to hear any of that and I could have handled the situation so much better than I did. Believe me, if I had gotten your message I would have called you or come to see you as soon as I could."

Lizzie smiled at him with tears shining in her eyes. Even though she didn't want to say what she was going to say next, she knew she had to. "Is there any chance we can remain friends?"

"No!" Will answered.

Lizzie looked at him with hurt and shock evident on her face.

"What I meant to say was no, we can't remain friends because I love you too much to be able to idly watch another man have you."

Lizzie's mouth formed an "o" as realization dawned. Will then continued by saying, "I know we can't just jump back into the relationship and be where we were before you left, but I would like to start over and rebuild."

Lizzie remained silent. When she still hadn't said anything a few moments later, Will asked, "Is that okay with you? If it's not then I understand and I'll definitely—"

Lizzie cut him off with a hug. "I would love to start over Will."

Will exhaled. He was so relieved. He had really been worried that nothing would be worked out and he would have to spend the rest of his life miserable without Lizzie. When they released each other, they both sat down on the bench and talked about all that had been going on in their lives over the past six months.

Lizzie was just telling her about this crazed fan she had met in Raleigh, North Carolina when Will interrupted her by saying, "Wait, you were there October 11? In Barnes and Nobles?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was in the store that day and I saw that they were promoting an author, but I never got close enough to see who it was. I just know that everyone was going crazy."

"I can't believe we were that close to one another and didn't realize it," Lizzie said mostly to herself.

"I know," Will said as he grabbed her hand.

They both sat there in silence and eventually made their way back into the ballroom to finish their evening and embark on their new relationship together.


	31. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it.

**A/N:** We have finally reached the end of the story. This, as you can tell, is my final chapter or epilogue if you will. I have a big thank you to all my reviewers. Your reviews really helped me to stay motivated, even through the ups and downs of real life. I have some ideas for future stories, but as some of you might have noticed, I've already started another story in another fandom. So I won't be acting on those ideas until I'm almost finished with that one. And even then I might take a break from writing for a little while so I can concentrate on school and such. Anyways, thank you again for reading and I hope you like the conclusion and the story as a whole.

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Will and Lizzie went through the next few months rebuilding their relationship and both of them making the effort to communicate more effectively. Since they both knew that was what got them in their pickle in the first place, they realized they needed to make sure they were very open about certain aspects of their life.

Ever since they had made that promise, their relationship had gone somewhat smoothly. There had been the rough patch here and there as they both learned to make adjustments in their life to accommodate their budding relationship. But they both also saw in the long run that this helped as well. Things weren't going to just fall into place and they were more than happy to work at making the relationship successful.

There was also one particular way in which their relationship improved, though they didn't necessarily plan on having it improve through this manner. A few days after they reconciled, they met up for lunch and had the following conversation:

_Flashback_

"_How are you Lizzie?" Will asked as he pulled the chair out for her._

"_I'm much better now that I've had a chance to actually sleep!" she responded laughingly._

_Will chuckled at her comment. They spent the next few minutes reviewing the menu and placing their orders, then sat in a semi-comfortable silence. Will eventually cleared his throat and said, "I know this might be a somewhat uncomfortable topic of conversation, but since we are just starting to date again, I thought it might be a good idea for us to talk about our boundaries."_

_Will held his breath as he waited for her to answer. "I agree," Lizzie said after a few moments silence. "I feel that us talking about it now will help us to avoid unneeded conflict in the future."_

_They then proceeded to talk about all the things they had never really mentioned earlier in their previous relationship. They also skirted around the sex issue until it couldn't possibly be avoided anymore._

"_I know this could sound odd, but I think it might be a good idea if we abstain from that until our relationship is on more solid ground," Lizzie said in a rush._

_Will was speechless for a second. When he noticed that Lizzie was getting uncomfortable with his silence, he quickly said, "I think that's a good idea too."_

_Lizzie kind of looked at him like she was expecting more, so he continued. "I was actually thinking of a way to tactfully bring this up because I think that may have been part of our previous problem. Not that it was a major contributor, but I think it muddied the waters a bit."_

_Lizzie nodded her head and said, "I'm glad you see it that way Will." She then reached across the table and gently squeezed his hand._

_End Flashback_

Since they weren't having sex, they found that things didn't seem to be so complicated. So while they may have wanted to start that part of their relationship again, they realized that it wasn't what they presently needed.

This brought them to the moment they were having now. It was now six months after their reconciliation. And Will had planned a very special night for the two of them. Lizzie was coming over for dinner, so Will gave Mrs. Reynolds the night off and he was cooking dinner. Or attempting to at least. He was pretty worried that it wouldn't work out well because he'd burned something or undercooked it.

But no mishaps had happened, so here he was waiting for the love of his life to arrive so he could spend the evening with her. A knock sounded on the door. Will opened the door and was speechless. Lizzie was standing in front of him in a red halter dress that was loose fitting, but very flattering on her figure.

After a few moments, Will finally managed to croak out, "You look lovely."

Lizzie nervously giggled as she made her way around him. Will shut the door behind her and followed her as she made her way into the living room. She paused a few steps in.

"What's this?" she asked him, looking over her shoulder at him.

"I wanted to do something special because we've been together six months and I've never been happier," he told her as he walked up and lightly kissed her on the neck and gently pushed her further into the room.

Will had gotten candles and placed them throughout the room giving it a romantic glow. He had also bought her favorite flowers, lilies, and placed them in vases in strategic places so the scent was released. In the center of it all was a table set for two with their dinner sitting on it.

"This looks amazing," Lizzie breathed as she pulled Will to her so she could hug and kiss him. "Thank you."

"Only the best for the love of my life."

Lizzie blushed and walked over to the table. Before she could pull her chair out, Will was there helping her sit down. He then made his way to the other side and sat down.

"Dinner is served."

They ate dinner in silence for a little while before Lizzie hesitantly said, "Will, there's something I've wanted to ask you, but I haven't really known how to bring it up."

"Whatever it is, ask. I have no secrets from you."

Lizzie waited a few seconds before she asked, "Whatever happened to Caroline and Charles?"

Will shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. "My investigators tailed Caroline for almost a year before they had enough evidence to have her charged with child pornography."

Will glanced up when he heard Lizzie gasp. "I know. I kind of had the same reaction. But once they got all the information they needed, they turned it all over to the police, who were working with them because they had their suspicions as well and she was arrested. Right now she is awaiting trial, but she'll most likely be sentenced to jail time and be put on the known sex offenders list whenever it is that she gets out, it'll show up on any criminal record searches."

Lizzie couldn't believe it. "I always thought Caroline was a little messed up, but I didn't realize she was that bad!"

"While she's being held, they're doing some psychological testing to see if she has any disorders that would cause her to do this or any of the other things she's been talking about doing."

"What do you mean?"

"When the police searched her apartment, they found notebooks full of murder plans for you and Jane and with plans on how to snag me into marrying her."

Lizzie was speechless. "She wanted to murder me and Jane? Why?"

"Jane was dating Charles. You know how she felt about that relationship. Even when they broke up because of Caroline, she didn't like that Charles was still hung up on Jane. And she wanted to kill you because of me. You have me but she wants me."

After a few second pause Will continued, "Of course, what she didn't realize was that by killing you she would have devastated me completely that I wouldn't have even wanted to be alive without you much less in any kind of relationship with her!"

Lizzie smiled at Will and lightly squeezed his hand. "What about Charles?"

Will sighed. "That's difficult to answer really. Charles feels like a complete ass, as he should, about breaking up with Jane. I think it was round about the time you left for your tour, Charles was thinking about trying to contact Jane to at least apologize and see whether she would be willing to meet with him on a date, but I don't think he ever did."

"Why not?" Lizzie asked, slightly surprised to hear all this.

"Well, he knew he had hurt Jane pretty badly when they broke up and he didn't know how she would react to being contacted by him. And he saw that Richard and she were hanging around each other an awful lot. I don't think he really knows what to think about that, so he backed off."

They both sat in silence, their dinner completely forgotten by now. Lizzie took a few moments to collect herself and then said, "What a way to kill the mood, huh?"

Will smiled and said, "I know of a way to bring it back."

He got up and offered his hand to her. He then led her to the balcony where soft music was playing. After pulling Lizzie into his arms, they slowly started to dance. They swayed there for a few minutes before Will pulled back and tilted Lizzie's face up so he could see her eyes.

"Do you know how much you mean to me?"

Lizzie didn't answer and Will continued, "You mean more to me than you'll ever know."

The music then stopped and Will stopped dancing, causing Lizzie to stop as well. Will took a step back and looked at Lizzie. Lizzie started to feel mildly uncomfortable under his penetrating gaze.

Will licked his lips and nervously said, "I know that we haven't been back together that long, but that doesn't mean that I don't think this is right. Because I believe it's more right than anything else in my life."

Will backed up a step and dropped to one knee, causing Lizzie to gasp. "Like I said, we haven't been back together that long, but I have always known what I wanted…and that's _**you**_ in my life for as long as I live."

He then pulled a velvet box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a sparkling diamond ring. "Elizabeth Bennet, will you do the honor of becoming my wife?"

Lizzie didn't know what to say. Will started to look uncomfortable when she still hadn't said anything. Lizzie finally found her voice and said, "Yes Will, I will marry you!"

A huge smiled broke out across Will's face. He took the ring out of its box and slowly slid it onto Lizzie's finger, kissing her hand after it slid home. He then stood up and kissed her on the mouth.

"You have just made me the happiest man alive," he whispered in her ear.

Lizzie giggled and pulled him down for another kiss. This kiss quickly escalated into something a little more heated, causing Will to break away and breathlessly say, "I don't want to break our promise to each other."

Lizzie then quietly said, "Maybe I want you to break our promise because then I would also be breaking our promise…"

Will looked at her incredulously.

"You might want to close your mouth before a fly goes into it," Lizzie said teasingly.

"Are you sure?" Will asked, still unsure.

"I'm positive."

Will grinned from ear to ear. "What do you say we take this inside?"

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The announcement of their engagement brought as much rapture to Lizzie's mother as she imagined it would. Luckily they told her family over the phone, so all they got was an incredibly loud scream and a few minutes of exclamations before her father was able to wrestle the phone from Mrs. Bennet's hands to talk to Lizzie. He told her she better be glad he was willing to put up with having to live with her mother's exuberant gushings until Lizzie comes to see them; nevertheless he was very happy for her and Will.

They told Richard and Georgie in person, in a crowded restaurant. While their congratulations weren't as effusive as Mrs. Bennet's, they were happy for them none the less. It was one of the few times Will had actually thought Georgie might make a scene in front of people how happy she was for the both of them.

Lizzie told Jane and as expected, Jane was very happy for her. She said she was jealous of the proposal because she didn't know if she'd ever have that happen to her, which caused Lizzie to question her.

"I thought I might achieve that with Charles, but apparently I was wrong. And then I thought I could get it with Richard, but it's obvious he's not looking to settle down and I don't see him in that way," Jane said as she sighed.

Lizzie smiled at Jane and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry Jane. You'll find your forever someday."

What Lizzie didn't say was she could find it with Charles if he ever got the guts to call and apologize for being such an ass to Jane on his sister's word and ask Jane out again. One thing Lizzie had learned from her break up and then reconciliation with Will is that you don't want to take advantage of what you have and if you get a second chance, embrace it.

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The next year of Will and Lizzie's life flew by. The planning of their wedding took up most of their time and when they actually got married, they were ready for it to be over. Luckily, Lizzie didn't turn into a Bridezilla, though Mrs. Bennet turned into a Momzilla when she found out how low key they wanted their wedding to be. In the end, Mr. Bennet had a nice long talk with his wife about how it wasn't her wedding and she should be happy with whatever Lizzie chooses. Or that's what Mr. Bennet told Lizzie the conversation was about. She thinks that her father threatened to decrease her mother's spending allowance, but she'd never find out for sure.

Also happening during this year was the reunion of Jane and Charles. Jane didn't want to take him back in the beginning, but after he wouldn't leave her alone and seeing that Lizzie wasn't much help in getting him to stay away, she listened to what he had to say and agreed to give him a second chance, though she didn't forgive him right away. That came later in the relationship when they were visiting the Bennets and Mrs. Bennet wouldn't shut up about how disappointed she was in Lizzie for not having a more extravagant wedding. Charles slyly mentioned that all the big society people were finding out how important a smaller scale wedding was and that it was very in-fashion. That caused her to be quiet and prompted "The Talk" as Lizzie dubbed it.

When Lizzie and Darcy's wedding day rolled around, they were surprised to see Richard in attendance with Charlotte, Lizzie's best friend that had basically disappeared a year and a half before. It turns out they had met at a business meeting and immediately hit it off and started dating as soon as their conflict-of-interests period was over and the two had been a couple since.

Georgie was more than happy to welcome Lizzie into the family and Lizzie found herself another sister that she could talk to. I came in handy the first few months as Will and Lizzie went through the adjustments most newlyweds go through. Luckily enough, Will and Lizzie were able to quickly adjust to living with each other and were more than happy to announce that they would be having their first child around their first wedding anniversary.

George Wickham was still in prison and five years after being locked up, he died under "mysterious" circumstances. No one knows what really happened to Caroline while she served her prison sentence, but she was clearly not her usual self upon release when she had to be admitted to a mental institution, where she lived the rest of her days in a padded room.

So I guess it's safe to say everyone lived happily ever after (excluding George and Caroline) and life was good for the Darcy's.


End file.
